SAN DIEGO, Dec 31: Lynndie England, the US soldier who came to symbolize the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, was burned in an accident in the California military prison where she is jailed, the US marines said on Friday.

Ms England, 23, incurred first degree burns from hot grease while taking a baked chicken out of an oven on Dec 14 in the kitchen of the Miramar marine base prison near San Diego, a marine spokesman said.

Lynndie England became infamous after the worldwide broadcast of photos showing the diminutive soldier holding a prisoner by a leash at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. She was sentenced by a military court on Sept 27 to three years in jail and granted a dishonourable discharge for her role in abusing Iraqi prisoners.—AFP