UK soldier jailed and dismissed for stabbing Afghan boy

UK soldier jailed and dismissed for stabbing Afghan boy

A British soldier has been jailed for stabbing a 10-year-old boy while serving in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Grenadier Guardsman Daniel Crook was jailed for 18 months and dismissed from the Army in June for stabbing Ghulam Nabi in Helmand Province.

It has now been revealed that a court martial heard how Crook stabbed the boy in the kidney area with a bayonet.

He had been drinking heavily the night before the incident in March last year.

The court martial hearing was told that he had drunk a "considerable quantity of vodka", and had been treated by medics.

Confiscated rifle

The next day his unit left a checkpoint in the Nad e Ali district to go on patrol.

Crook followed, arming himself with two grenades and a bayonet because his rifle had been confiscated as a safety measure.

The prosecution said he came across two Afghans riding bikes - one of them was Ghulam, who had been sent out to collect a bottle of yoghurt and who then pestered Crook for chocolate.

In response, the soldier "took hold of the boy's shoulder and stabbed him in the region of his kidneys with his bayonet".

Afterwards, Crook caught up with the patrol and admitted what he had done. When questioned by military police he could not explain why he stabbed the boy.

UK soldier jailed and dismissed for stabbing Afghan boy