Cookley soldier 'unlawfully killed' (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Cookley soldier 'unlawfully killed'

8:52am Wednesday 10th March 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

A COOKLEY soldier killed in Afghanistan died with three comrades because of ''inadequate training'' and equipment shortages, a coroner has ruled.

SAS reservist, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, was taking part in an operation east of Lashkar Gah when the Snatch Land Rover he was driving was hit by a mine.

The 100kg bomb “devastated” the vehicle, killing him, Corporal Sarah Bryant, 26, of the Intelligence Corps and SAS reservists, Corporal Sean Reeve, 28 and Trooper Paul Stout, 31.

An inquest heard there were widespread “concerns” among frontline troops and commanders that Snatch Land Rovers were not equipped with enough armour.

The commanding SAS officer in charge of the operation, known as Colonel A, said he had repeatedly asked for better-equipped WMIK Land Rovers but was declined.

At least 37 British soldiers have died while travelling in Snatch Land Rovers since 2005 and their vulnerability has led some soldiers to nickname them the “mobile coffin”.

Recording a verdict of unlawful killing after a six-day inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, Coroner David Masters demanded the MoD examine the “shortage of equipment”, namely Ebex bomb detectors and armoured vehicles.

He said: “In my judgment, there was an inadequacy of training for this unit and its members.

“There was not the equipment, the Ebex, available to provide familiarity and training with hands-on teaching to members of this unit, which had been set out on Tactical Aid Memoir guidance, that they needed to use so as to properly conduct Operation Barma drills.

“The correct training procedures for a unit such as this must be reviewed and assessed and with particular reference to vulnerable points and areas, also that the correct proportion of metal detectors can be reviewed and assessed so that the TAM guidelines are seen to be observed.

“The evidence has clearly shown that Snatch Land Rovers were not the preferred vehicle of choice for the operation in which the Police Mentoring team were engaged.

“There was significant disquiet about those vehicles being the only resource available to this unit for a variety of reasons, possibly partly due to the perception as Colonel A observed but which he complained to higher channels to with no avail.”

The Coroner also pledged to investigate the supply and adequacy of the Snatch Land Rover's replacement vehicles, the Snatch Vixen and the Vixen Plus.

L/Cpl Larkin, Cpl Bryant, Cpl Reeve and Trooper Stout were carrying out an operation to recapture Taliban fighters who had escaped from a prison on June 17, 2008.

They had been occupying a vehicle checkpoint on route 601, East of Lashkar Gah, when they were ordered to reinforce Scots Guards who had killed an enemy soldier.

But as their Snatch Land Rover passed over a drainage ditch in between two buildings in a village named Miralzi, (corr) a huge mine detonated at around 3.30pm.

The blast was so large that it killed Cpl Bryant, who was sitting in the rear, Cpl Reeve who was the top cover sentry, and Pte Stout, another top cover sentry, instantly.

L/Cpl Larkin, who was driving the vehicle, also died in the blast, which is believed to have been triggered by a pressure plate linked to up to 100kg of high explosives.

The inquest heard that the tragedy might have been prevented if the drainage ditch on the 2.5m wide track had been correctly searched by electronic Ebex mine detectors.

The patrol had two Ebex devices but the inquest heard only one was available in the lead vehicle and that only one soldier had been formally trained to use it.

Other soldiers told how they had only received 20 minutes of informal training on the device and had to learn to use it themselves using a manual.

The inquest heard Soldier E, the sole survivor of the explosion, and L/Cpl Larkin got out to carry out a visual check but did not use an Ebex detector to search.

Colonel A, an SAS Commander of the 23rd Regiment, told the inquest on Monday that Snatch Land Rovers were “not the optimal solution”.

He repeatedly requested the more mobile and better-equipped WMIK Land Rovers but was told it was not possible because of a “general shortage” of vehicles.

A post-mortem examination carried out at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital by Dr Nick Hunt found that L/Cpl Larkin died from blunt injuries to his chest and abdomen.

It revealed that Cpl Bryant, Cpl Reeve and Trooper Stout died from blast wounds sustained in an explosion.

The controversial 3.5 tonne Snatch Land Rover was developed for use in Northern Ireland in 1992 but concerns were raised in 2003 after it was deployed in Iraq.

It has just enough protection to keep out bullets, petrol bombs and rocks but not sufficient armour to repel mines, roadside bombs or rocket-propelled grenades.

SAS Major Sebastian Morley resigned his commission in protest at the vehicle, describing the MoD's failure to provide equipment as “cavalier at best, criminal at worst”.

It emerged in June last year that four families of servicemen killed in Snatch Land Rovers are to sue the Ministry of Defence under Human Rights laws.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)