WILTSHIRE TIMES EXCLUSIVE: THREE soldiers with the Black Watch Regiment beat two men unconscious after being accused of killing babies in Iraq.

Ian Brown, 22, David Heron, 23, and John Mitchell, 22, punched and kicked Alexander Graham and Jason Bevis in Warminster town centre after a night out drinking in January.

Chippenham magistrates' court was shown CCTV footage of the violent fight, which took place shortly after the soldiers returned from a controversial deployment in Iraq. Malcolm Wieck, defending on Thursday, said the soldiers had been provoked by comments made by the two men.

He said: "They said that the defendants had been out in Iraq killing babies."

Mr Wieck said the soldiers were battle scarred, after operations in Camp Dogwood and Al Amarah, where Private Johnson Beharry's bravery recently won him the Victoria Cross.

lHe said: "Soldiers are coming back and are beginning to show signs of psychological problems as a result of what they went through."

The soldier's commanding officer, Captain Matthew Sheldrick, said: "The conditions were torrid and we did see things that we have not seen before.

"From my platoon of 36 men I have had approximately 10 people come to speak to me about psychological problems."

Michele Hewitt, prosecuting, said the dispute started in the early hours of January 29 in Market Place, after the soldiers had been out drinking at JB's Disco.

Mrs Hewitt said an argument broke out with civilians, one of whom was described in court as having a punk hairstyle.

"It was repeated punching and kicking while the injured parties were on the ground," she said. "The injuries were serious they were unconscious."

Police found the two men, both in their 30s, lying prone on their backs outside the Post Office. One of the men, who had a punk hairstyle, was bleeding from his nose.

After CCTV footage was shown in court Mr Wieck said: "It is absolutely very clear that the very first blow that is swung is by the bloke with the spiky hair."

He said neither of the two victims lodged a complaint about the attack, probably because they knew they had played a part in the fight.

Magistrate David Randolph said: "We believe there was considerable provocation, some of it verbal and some of it physical."

He decided to keep jurisdiction of the case in magistrates' court, meaning the maximum sentence for the offence is three months prison.

Mitchell, of Armagh, Northern Ireland and Brown and Heron, both of Dundee, Scotland, all pleaded guilty to affray. They were released to Battlesbury Barracks, Warminster, on unconditional bail until June 28.