A British tank commander who died in Iraq because he had been ordered to give up his body armour described British military supplies as "disgraceful" and "a bit of a joke" in the days before his death, an inquest heard today.

Oxford Coroner's Court heard the voice of Sergeant Steve Roberts, recorded on tapes he made for his wife in March 2003, criticising his commanders for failing to properly equip troops or give them signs to distinguish them as friendly forces to their American counterparts.

Sergeant Roberts, 33, was killed by 'friendly fire' on March 24, 2003, as he manned a checkpoint outside the southern Iraqi city of Az Zubayr. An Army Board of Inquiry found that his death could have been prevented at five different stages.

Initially he was attacked by an Iraqi man wielding a stone but his pistol failed when he tried to defend himself. Sergeant Roberts died when a British Challenger tank intervened, opening fire inaccurately at close range. A pathologist found that he would have survived if he had been wearing body armour that he had been ordered to hand in because of equipment shortages.

Today, coroners heard that Sergeant Roberts was painfully aware of the supply problems affecting his regiment and in a series of recordings he recounted how pleased he was to have brought some of his own clothing and equipment to Iraq.

He said that claims by the then Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mike Jackson that UK forces were battle-ready was "a blatant lie".

Ten days before his death Sergeant Roberts told his wife: "We’ve got nothing, it’s disgraceful what we’ve got out here. It’s pretty demoralising."

And in the midst of last-minute preparations for the invasion a week later, he said: "It’s going well. Still haven’t seen my combats yet. Kit we’re being told we are going to get, we’re not. It’s disheartening because we know we’re going to have to go to war without the correct equipment. It fills me with a bit of remorse really. I think remorse is the right word."

He added: "The vehicles are still in the boat.

"General Jackson said ’We’re ready to go’, and our vehicles are still in the boat ready to come into port. What a blatant lie that was..."

In another recording he said it would be "interesting to see what armour I actually get - I’ll keep you posted obviously". In the end, Roberts was given Enhanced Combat Body Armour (ECBA) but ordered to hand it back in three days before he was shot.

Mrs Roberts did not know of her husband's recordings until she was given them at his funeral. Today she left court to avoid hearing them again. His mother, Marion Chapman, heard them for the first time in full today and said: "You’re sitting in that courtroom and suddenly there’s this voice and it’s my Steve... his personality really comes through. It was as if he was in the courtroom."

Geoff Hoon, the former Minister of Defence, has been called but not yet appeared to explain why he delayed ordering more armour for eight weeks in the run-up to the conflict.

Today, the lawyer for the Ministry of Defence, David Evans, said that David Williams, the director of MoD Capability, Resources and Scrutiny would try and answer the question on Monday. Mr Hoon will be called if Mr Williams is unable to answer the coroner's questions. The hearing continues.

"WE'VE GOT NOTHING"
Extracts from Sergeant Roberts's audio diary:

March 13, 2003:
"Got your parcel today — fantastic sweets, some decent bread, and little notes from you, such a morale booster. We’ve got nothing, it’s disgraceful what we’ve got out here. It’s pretty demoralising. You’re here, in the sand and the heat. My nose is blistered completely as I always do. But we will get through and in six months’ time, will be having a fantastic holiday in Australia."

March 21:
"We’ve lost a couple of days because it’s been very busy preparing for the war. It’s going well. Still haven’t seen my combats yet. Kit we’re being told we are going to get, we’re not. It’s disheartening because we know we’re going to have to go to war without the correct equipment. It fills me with a bit of remorse really. I think remorse is the right word."

March 23:
"I can’t really sleep because I may never wake and that we are in enemy territory now and anything could happen. We had a case of ’blue on blue’ where American planes bombed an American tank so we are very very conscious of our surroundings and the helicopters that come over. We don’t have panels that the Americans can see, so we are very suspicious of any air movement but it all seems to have gone without hitch."

"Don’t watch the news too much - it’s very melodramatic, they haven’t got a clue what’s going on now. I know now why I am here and what I’m doing. Children are walking around with bare feet, completely ill-fitting, tattered old clothes. We’re over here to free them from the regime they’re under so they can grow up and do whatever they want to do. That’s the reason why we are here. I wish those tree-hugging, bleeding hearts could come over here and see what we see because it would change their minds completely."

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