Four British soldiers are facing manslaughter charges for allegedly forcing an Iraqi teenager into a canal in southern Iraq where he drowned in 2003.
A prosecutor told the court martial Tuesday in Colchester, England that the soldiers ordered the boy and three other suspected looters into the Shabat al-Basra canal to teach them a lesson.
He accused them of failing to help the boy, Ahmad Jabbar Kareem after seeing that he was in "obvious distress," and said they later fled the scene.
One of the suspected looters told authorities that the soldiers threw rocks at them after they were forced into the water.
The four British soldiers have pleaded not guilty.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP .