Private Lynndie England has become the face of a scandal that has stained the US military's reputation.

The world has seen her in a series of photos: grinning behind a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners and holding an Iraqi detainee on a leash at Abu Ghraib jail.

The soldier - who gave birth to a son in October 2004 - has pleaded guilty at a court martial this week, under a plea deal that will see her maximum jail sentence reduced to 11 years.

Her lawyer said she would plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy, four counts of maltreating prisoners and one count of dereliction of duty.

Prosecutors have agreed to drop two other charges.

England has been cast as the opposite of the all-American heroine Jessica Lynch who was rescued from captors in Iraq.

Supporters say the 22-year-old, who grew up in a West Virginia trailer park, is a scapegoat.

England says she was ordered to pose for the pictures by officers higher up the chain of command, and that she was told to "soften up" prisoners for interrogations.

Army investigators testified during hearings last year that England said the reservists took the photos while "they were joking around, having some fun".

Combat boots

Lynndie Rana England was born in Ashland, Kentucky, in 1982, but moved with her parents Kenneth and Terrie to Fort Ashby, West Virginia, when she was two-years-old.
At school, she was reportedly known for wearing combat boots and camouflage trousers.

Later she joined the US Army reserves to help pay her way through college.

On leaving high school in 2001, she got a job as a cashier in a supermarket and was briefly married to a co-worker.

England was sent to Iraq in 2003. She was supposed to have been a clerk at the now-infamous Baghdad prison, but she found herself guarding prisoners.

While in Iraq, she became involved with another man implicated in the prison abuse scandal, prison guard Charles Graner.

Last October, England gave birth to a boy fathered by Graner. The baby was delivered at Womack Army Medical Center on Fort Bragg, where England was stationed after returning from Iraq.

Graner was sentenced to 10 years detention at a court martial hearing in January.

Jeremy Sivits, another soldier jailed for a year for his part in what went on, told a military court he had seen England and Graner "stomping" on the fingers and toes of detainees.

In May 2004, the BBC visited the town where England grew up.

There, many were still proud of the US soldiers in Iraq, despite the infamy of one of their own.

England - some said - was a model soldier who only did what she was told and must have been acting on commands from above.

-BBC News