A SOLDIER from Nelson has been charged with murdering an Iraqi civilian who was shot near the southern city of Basra.

But the mother of Kevin Lee Williams, of Cravendale Avenue, said she was standing by her son.

Williams, a trooper with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, is accused of murdering father-of-nine Hassan Said, an Iraqi civilian, on or before August 3, 2003, in Ad Dayr. He is the first British serviceman to be charged with murder in Iraq.

The 21-year-old was granted bail at a brief hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London yesterday.

Williams 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.

He is 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.

Today his distraught mother Julie, 47, said: "I am extremely proud of my son but very upset at what has happened.

"He was just doing the job he was sent out there to do. He's only a young lad and is completely shellshocked by it all.

"I am not ashamed of him, I am just more concerned about how he has been treated."

Dressed in a dark blue suit and open necked blue shirt, Williams spoke only to confirm his name when he appeared at court.

Deborah Walsh, prosecuting, said the Crown had no objection to Williams being granted bail.

His conditions are that he stay at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, which he may not leave except by permission of an officer.

Williams must report daily to the Royal Military Police post at Catterick barracks, surrender his passport and undergo an examination carried out by two medical practitioners.

He is due to appear at the Old Bailey on September 28.