From Times Online
March 9, 2010

Inquest to rule on Land Rover deaths in Afghanistan

Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor

An inquest into the deaths of the only female British soldier to be killed in Afghanistan and three SAS reservists will conclude today after hearing a series of concerns over the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rover the four were travelling in when they struck a bomb.

Witnesses have criticised a shortage of mine detectors issued to troops in Helmand province and claimed there was insufficient training on the critical piece of equipment.

David Masters, assistant deputy coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, has said he will examine the suitability of Snatch Land Rovers for the fatal mission and look at the soldiers’ ability to detect roadside bombs, in a verdict that could cause embarrassment for the Ministry of Defence.

Gordon Brown revealed on a trip to Afghanistan at the weekend that 200 new patrol vehicles would replace the Snatch Land Rover, which has been criticised for several years for offering inadequate protection against roadside bombs, the biggest killer of British soldiers in the country.

Corporal Sarah Bryant, of the Intelligence Corps, and Corporal Sean Reeve, Lance-Corporal Richard Larkin and Trooper Paul Stout, of 23rd SAS Regiment, were the last troops to die in one of the fortified Land Rovers when theirs hit an improvised explosive device on June 17, 2008.

A fifth soldier survived the explosion, which was triggered when one of the vehicle’s back wheels struck the pressure-plate bomb, thought to weigh between 50kg and 100kg, while trying to navigate a shallow ditch in rural terrain to the east of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand.

The inquest, at Trowbridge Town Hall, heard yesterday from the commanding officer of 23rd SAS Regiment, a Territorial Army unit, who said he was concerned about the Snatch and had requested a different Land Rover that could travel off-road more easily but none were available.

The SAS commander, identified only as Colonel A, also said that his soldiers lacked sufficient numbers of EBEX mine detectors.

Adding to the sense of overstretch, he revealed that his squadron was ordered to mentor the Afghan police only because there had been no regular forces available to do the job.

Colonel A insisted, however, that despite the challenges his unit had the resources and training to perform its role successfully. Pressed on the shortfall of mine detectors by a lawyer for two of the families, the commanding officer said that procedures had to be modified to tackle the threat with the resources available, which increased the danger for his troops.

The comments came after the Prime Minister said last week that he had met all requests for military equipment in Iraq.

In an emotional piece of evidence for relatives of the victims who are attending the inquest, which resumed last week, a pathologist confirmed yesterday that Corporal Bryant, 26, Corporal Reeve, 28, and Trooper Stout, 31, died “virtually instantly” from blast wounds caused by the explosion.

Lance-Corporal Larkin, 39, who was driving, died after being trapped behind the steering wheel of the Snatch Land Rover. The pathologist said he would have been rendered unconscious “very rapidly, if not instantly, as a result of the force”.

The coroner is due to deliver his verdict this afternoon at 2pm.