A LEADING defence expert today called for an apology for East Lancashire trooper Kevin Williams after a murder charge against him was dropped.

Charles Heyman, who is a former army officer and now senior defence analyst at Jane's, said the tank driver had been through a 'terrible ordeal' since being charged last year with the murder of an Iraqi civilian.

As well as calling for the Crown Prosecution Service to say sorry to the Nelson soldier, Mr Heyman said any further cases should be carefully considered before being brought by the CPS.

Tank driver Kevin, 21, was due to stand trial at the Old Bailey in London for the murder of father-of-nine Hassan Said.

He became the first British serviceman to be charged with murder in Iraq, after an incident near Basra in August 2003.

Kevin was part of a patrol which stopped a truck suspected of carrying weapons.

Mr Said is believed to have been shot during an attempt to arrest him.

But a U-turn by government lawyers means the soldier, a trooper with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, now has no case to answer.

It is understood the move comes after the director of public prosecutions reviewed the evidence in the case.

Charles Heyman served in the British Army between 1962 and 1986, including tours of active service in Borneo, Cyprus, Malaysia and Northern Ireland.

Since leaving the army Mr Heyman has specialised in threat and general military analysis and has worked as a NATO consultant.

He is senior defence analyst at Jane's defence and security experts.

He said: "It is very interesting that the charges are being dropped against Kevin Williams and almost certainly means that the evidence was not reliable enough to go ahead with a prosecution.

"What concerns me is that this young man has been through the most terrible ordeal and I hope that someone from the Crown Prosecution Service will apologise to him.

"This shows that the authorities must be very careful when considering bringing cases against serving soldiers that they are not going ahead with frivolous charges, because these men have volunteered to put their lives on the line for their country."

Kevin Wiliiam's solicitor, Robert Wong, said today he welcomed news the charges were being dropped.

He said: "This is excellent news for Kevin. operations, I'm sure he will be hugely relieved.

There will be a hearing tomorrow at the Royal Courts of Justice where the Crown Prosecution Service are expected to offer no evidence and that will be an end of it."

East Lancashire MPs today welcomed the news.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice, who along with Hyndburn MP Greg Pope and Burnley MP Peter Pike, handed in a 2,500 name petition to Number 10 Downing Street asking for charges to be dropped, said:

"General Anthony Walker understands that trooper Williams will be cleared and that is fantastic news..

"

Kevin, who had been on bail at his barracks at Catterick, was facing criminal charges because the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith called in the police.

The trooper's commanding officer had previously decided he should not face a court martial.