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Screaming obscenities, a British soldier hauls the hooded Iraqi detainee off the floor and forces him to lean, legs bent, against a wall as other captives, sacks over their heads and wrists bound with tape, groan in discomfort.

The damning images, captured on an amateur-style video, were released for the first time yesterday at the opening of a public inquiry into the death of an Iraqi in British military custody in southern Iraq six years ago.

The hearing was also told how a second detainee was made to dance in the style of Michael Jackson, a third was urinated on and seven others suffered varying degrees and forms of abuse.

Gerard Elias, QC, counsel to the inquiry, said that he hoped to follow evidence “up the chain of command” to find out who authorised a range of banned techniques, such as hooding, stress positions and sleep deprivation, to prepare detainees for interrogation.

Lawyers acting for the family of Baha Musa, the hotel receptionist who died after 36 hours in detention, doubt that Corporal Donald Payne, the soldier shown in the video, carried out the abuse alone. “It is a question we will see through the evidence as it goes along, how high up it went,” Aonghus Kelly, of Public Interest Lawyers, told The Times. “I think there is a lot to come out.”

The death of Mr Musa, 26, in September 2003 was one of Britain’s most shameful moments in Iraq, triggering widespread outrage and resentment.

Mr ... >>>