Metal detectors demonstrated at inquest into death of Carlisle soldier

By Kelly Eve at Trowbridge Town Hall

Last updated at 15:53, Wednesday, 03 March 2010

The inquest into the death of Corporal Sarah Bryant was this afternoon shown how Ebex metal detectors - used in ground checks for bombs - were used.

Warrant officer John Stevens, an explosives expert, showed the coroner and relatives' families how the devices worked, after the inquest heard how requests for different vehicles and more training on how to use the detectors was turned down.

Earlier, soldier J – a special forces Lance Corporal who was commanding another vehicle in the patrol in June 2008 – told Wiltshire Coroner’s Court that he was critical of the quality and quantity of training in how to use the Ebex mine detectors

From behind a curtain protecting his identity, soldier J said the “biggest threat in the country was from IEDs (improvised explosive devices)”.

Assistant deputy coroner David Masters said: “You asked for specific training at Camp Bastion. You say, in your statement, that you requested time to practice the training on the dedicated mine lanes at Camp Bastion but that request was refused.”

Soldier J replied: “That’s right but I don’t know why.”

Soldier J, responsible for reporting up the chain of command and requesting equipment for missions, also said he asked for alternative vehicles for the patrol because he knew the terrain and he did not believe the Snatch Land Rover was suitable.

He said: “I did request in questions at the end of the orders was it possible to use [Land Rover] WMIKS but was told there were none available.”

He and other soldiers had earlier said they deemed the Snatch Land Rovers “inadequate” for the job they were to do because they could not cope well with soft terrain. The mobility, flexibility and visibility were also “poor”.

The court has also heard how soldiers regularly carried out “Operation Barma” drills – mine sweeps of “vulnerable areas” – without the right number or any of the metal detectors as set out in Army pre-deployment guidelines.

Due to a shortage of equipment, the inquest in Trowbridge has heard how some soldiers had to “make do” and spent four months relying solely on visual ground checks because they did not have Ebex detectors.

Soldier E – a sergeant who was the sole survivor of the blast which killed four of his colleagues – told the inquest he had to go “cap in hand” for equipment and acquired an Ebex detector “unofficially”.

The reaction to using Snatch Land Rovers was met with “disbelief”, the inquest heard on Monday.

Yesterday, soldier E said his first reaction during pre-deployment training when told he would be travelling in Snatch Land Rovers was “I’ve never actually operated the vehicle at all”.

“There was a lot of worry that these weren’t the right vehicle in our opinion for the job in hand,” he said.

Fighting back tears as he recalled the explosion, soldier E also said he voiced his concerns up the usual chain of command, and he said those in his command voiced concerns to him.

He went on: “Having used the Snatch in our pre-deployment training, our concerns were heightened, especially when off-road. The mobility and flexibility of the vehicle came into question.

“The people on top cover, when off-road, were thrown around quite severely. When the lads were actually on top cover they were quite badly bruised and cut when the vehicle was used off-road.

“It could go off-road, but as a platform to maintain operations, I believe it was not adequate for the job.”

Cpl Bryant, who was brought up in Cotehill near Carlisle, is the only female British servicewoman to have been killed on duty in Afghanistan.

Just before the explosion she had been involved in carrying out two-man Operation Barma drills with soldier E. She was visually checking for ground disturbance and wires while soldier E was using the only metal detector their team had. Cpl Bryant, 26 and a member of the Intelligence Corps, was killed alongside Territorial Army SAS reservists Corporal Sean Reeve, 28; Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 29, and 31-year-old Private Paul Stout.

The back wheel of their Snatch Land Rover hit a pressure-plated roadside bomb, weighing between 50-100 kg, hidden in a ditch.

They were east of Lashkar Gah, on their way to rendezvous with troops after a prison break in Kandahar.

Cpls Bryant and Reeve and Private Stout died of blast wounds. LCpl Larkin died after he was trapped behind the wheel of the stricken Snatch, which he had been driving.

The inquest was told LCpl Larkin had, a short time before the massive explosion, been seen in the vicinity of area carrying out a visual check for roadside bombs.

Wiltshire’s assistant deputy coroner has said he will examine the suitability of using Snatch Land Rovers in the patrol as well as the training in and use of metal detectors and Operation Barma drills to search out mines.
    

Edited by Elaine - 03 Mar 2010 at 5:37pm

UK soldiers in Afghanistan had mine detection training in a "sand pit", inquest told

Mar 3 2010


Troops in Afghanistan had to ask for mine detection training and practised in a "sand pit", an inquest into the death of a soldier from Kidderminster heard.
Richard Larkin

The "concerned" soldiers hunted out an expert on base who passed on his knowledge of metal detectors in the months before an explosion which killed Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39, and three comrades in June 2008.

A private in a nearby vehicle in Lashkar Gah that day said he at first received only a "20-30 minutes" briefing, without actually handling an Ebex metal detector.

The witness - identified as Soldier K for security reasons - said: "We received a briefing and watched a demonstration but had no hands-on (training) with an Ebex.

"When I got to theatre (of war) after about three weeks some Ebexes were supplied to use. We didn't have any training on them. I didn't personally have any hands-on.

"Later on in the tour in Lashkar Gah we were concerned with our lack of training and spoke to an explosives specialist, who was based at the same camp as us, who organised some training for us.

"He (the expert) had a kind of lane, like a sand pit where you could bury objects and practise detecting them. Things like that. We also arranged official training back at Camp Bastion, which we undertook, at the same time, about four months into the tour."

Soldier K continued: "We had to request it. It didn't happen until April. It didn't happen on our reception training."

Was the training better at Camp Bastion four months later, the coroner asked. Soldier K said: "I was happy with the training in April. That was good training."

Corporal Bryant, of the Intelligence Corps - described by her family as their own Angel of the North - was killed while taking part in an operation east of Lashkar Gah when her Snatch Land Rover was hit by a mine on June 17 2008.

The death of Cpl Bryant, originally from Cumbria, made her the first British female casualty in Afghanistan. She died with three Territorial Army special forces soldiers, Corporal Sean Robert Reeve, 28, of the Royal Signals, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin, 39, and Trooper Paul Stout, 31.

The back wheel of their vehicle hit a pressure-plated improvised explosive device (IED) hidden in a ditch. They were in the Land Rover with a fifth soldier, the only survivor, known as Soldier E, who was sat in the passenger seat.

Post-mortem examinations showed that L/Cpl Larkin, from Cookley in Kidderminster, died of injuries to the chest and abdomen following an explosion. Cpl Bryant, from Chicksands, Bedfordshire, Cpl Reeve, from Patcham, Brighton, and Pte Stout, from Woolton in Liverpool, died of blast wounds caused by an explosion.

    

Edited by Elaine - 04 Mar 2010 at 7:51am

News and Star -
Cumbrian former soldier died after years of heavy drinking

By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 15:32, Thursday, 04 March 2010

A former soldier who was haunted by war memories including the death of a good friend died at home after years of heavy drinking.

An inquest heard that Jason Andrew McMinn, 38, of Ellenborough Place, Maryport, was found sitting dead on his bathroom floor on April 17.

North and West Cumbria coroner David Roberts heard that Mr McMinn’s father Ralph, of Skinburness, had called police because he could not contact his son, whose front door had been locked from the inside.

PC Jonathan Lowden, of Maryport police, broke into the house and the pair found him dead.

The inquest heard that Mr McMinn had joined the Royal Artillery at 18 and had served in the first Gulf War from 1990, spending five months in Kuwait.

After a couple of weeks leave he was posted to Northern Ireland where he witnessed the death of a close friend and colleague.

He was later based in Germany but began having problems and his Army career ended after about 10 years service.

He had done casual work since then, his father said, but was unemployed when he died.

A father-of-two, Mr McMinn separated from his wife Catherine in 2004 and later moved to Cumbria to be near his parents. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was the root of his problems, his father said.

A statement from GP Dr Rod Jones of the Silloth Group Medical Practice said Mr McMinn had a history of depression, was suffering flashbacks from his Army service and had been receiving psychological help.

He also had liver problems and had admitted drinking alcohol to relieve his anxiety.

“It seems in the last few months he may have withdrawn into himself more and more feeling the help we were trying to provide was not meeting his needs,” Dr Jones said.

Mr McMinn senior said his son did not eat healthily, although he and his wife took him shopping weekly and tried to encourage him to eat well.

But, he said, half a bottle of whisky was found in the kitchen, which he felt suggested his son had not drunk for about a week.

A report from pathologist Dr Joanne Wilkinson said the post-mortem examination had shown that Mr McMinn had a severely damaged, fatty liver and there was evidence that he had not been eating well before his death but there was no alcohol in his blood.

Returning a verdict of death by natural causes, Mr Roberts said Mr McMinn had drunk more than was good for him and had not eaten well, leading to chronic health problems but his death was not directly linked to alcohol misuse or starvation.

Inquest told of Afghanistan bomb trap carnage
Top row: James Backhouse, Joseph Murphy, William Aldridge; Bottom row: Daniel Simpson, Jonathan Horne
The five soldiers were killed in two waves of bomb explosions

An Afghan bomb trap which killed five UK soldiers left a scene like something "from a movie", an inquest has heard.

Capt Ross Hocking said he saw "a lot of bodies" after two linked explosions near Sangin, Helmand province, in July.

Rifleman William Aldridge, 18, Rifleman James Backhouse, 18, and Rifleman Daniel Simpson, 20, were hit first.

Cpl Jonathan Horne, 27, and Rifleman Joseph Murphy, 18, went to help but were caught in the next blast. Verdicts of unlawful killing were recorded.

Capt Hocking told the inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, that the soldiers from 2nd Battalion The Rifles (2 Rifles) were on patrol on land that dropped away sharply downhill when the incident happened on 10 July 2009.

He said: "It was at the base of the hill where we heard an explosion behind us.

"We just heard a large boom and saw the top of a dust cloud from the base of the slope."

After coming under small arms fire, the team came back to deal with the first wave of casualties.

Capt Hocking said: "As soon as we walked back through the gap in the wall there were several people lying on the floor and pretty much everyone was helping to sort out casualties.

"I could see one person not moving, on the floor. The amount of casualties would suggest a large blast - or several. There were two craters either side of the gap in the wall."

     
It is tragic that it (the medal) came out of this incident but you quite rightly deserve it
Coroner David Ridley

Medals show ferocity of fighting
Soldier award for braving bullets

The second blast in the so-called daisy chain detonated as those who were able were helping the casualties and getting them onto stretchers.

Capt Hocking said: "I looked into the compound to see a lot of bodies, a lot of people on the floor and basically it was something out of a movie really."

Rifleman Murphy, from Castle Bromwich, West Midlands, was carrying Rifleman Simpson, from Croydon, south London, when the second series of blasts went off.

Serjeant Jaime Moncho gave evidence on the same day it was announced he had been awarded a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for his bravery during the attack.

His citation was for "supreme courage in the face of the most testing of circumstances" as he went to the aid of his comrades.

He told the inquest: "Once we got to the compound ourselves, we could see through the gap, the casualties and where they were.

"At that stage I heard a crack and a thump, a possible round of small arms fire.

"At that time we had to formulate very quickly a set of battle orders."

Coroner David Ridley praised the speed with which he took control of the situation and began treating casualties while under fire.

Mr Ridley told him: "It is tragic that it (the medal) came out of this incident but you quite rightly deserve it."

Recording his verdicts, Mr Ridley said if the Taliban suspects were ever caught they would face murder charges.
    

Edited by Elaine - 20 Mar 2010 at 8:14am

Inquest into Catterick soldier's death in Afghanistan bomb blast

9:33am Tuesday 23rd March 2010

AN inquest will be held today into the death of a North Yorkshire soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.

Warrant Officer Sean Upton, 35, of 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, died in an explosion as he was on foot patrol in the Sangin district of Helmand Province in July last year.

His widow, Karen, later became the first person to be presented with the Elizabeth Cross at a ceremony at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

WO Upton, who was second in command of the Police Mentoring Team in Sangin, had been in the Army for 19 years and had served in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus and Bosnia.

The soldier, who was originally from Nottinghamshire, but lived in Catterick, had volunteered to fill a gap in the Police Mentoring Team and was said to have been adored by his Afghan recruits.

WO Upton, who was father to two children, Hollie and Ewan, was described as a truly dedicated and exemplary soldier.

The Elizabeth Cross was presented to his widow in August last year.

Mrs Upton was the first person to receive the honour, which is awarded to the next of kin of armed forces personnel killed on active service in a mark of national recognition of their loss.

The inquest into WO Upton's death will be held at Richmond Town Hall, in Richmond, North Yorkshire.
    

Edited by Elaine - 24 Mar 2010 at 9:08am