Mine soldier had 'faulty' armour

A Territorial Army soldier from Devon was killed by a landmine explosion in Afghanistan, an inquest has been told.

Trooper Jack Sadler, 21, was serving with the Honourable Artillery Company when he was killed in the blast in Helmand Province on 4 December 2007.

The Exeter inquest heard he was wearing faulty body armour and a helicopter took 42 minutes to rescue him.

But pathologist Dr Nicholas Hunt said neither factors probably contributed to his death.

A post-mortem examination showed Trooper Sadler died from multiple injuries to his body, head, neck and lower limbs sustained in the blast.

The head and neck injuries would have been ultimately untreatable and unsurvivable

He was knocked unconscious but survived for a while before he was pronounced dead at Camp Bastion hospital.

Alan Hepper, an armourer based at Porton Down, told the inquest the back plate worn by Trooper Sadler was faulty and was not properly fitted.

In a statement read to the inquest, Dr Hunt said: "The time for the helicopter to reach him would have made no material difference to the outcome.

"The head and neck injuries would have been ultimately untreatable and unsurvivable."

When asked if wearing a neck brace could have saved Trooper Sadler's life, he added: "There is no system an operationally deployed soldier can wear that could protect from this type of injury."

The reservist was providing machine gun cover in sentry position on the top of the Land Rover during a reconnaissance patrol checking routes for an impending operation.

The convoy was crossing a dried river bed, known as a wadi, when the unit heard the explosion and thought it was under attack.

The inquest heard from fellow soldiers who were on patrol with Trooper Sadler and thought they had been hit by a rocket-propelled grendade.

L/Sgt Glynn Bellman told Exeter Coroner's Court he heard an initial "pop" before a much larger explosion left him "engulfed in smoke and flames".

He added: "It's fairly hazy. The vehicle tilted to the right. My initial reaction in a split second was that we had burst a tyre.

"The next thing I knew the main explosion had gone off. I was unconscious for about 20 to 30 seconds, I hit my head, then came round face down next to the vehicle.

"There was smoke and fire going off so I thought the enemy were trying to follow up but it was our ammunition going up."

Trooper Sadler was the first reservist from London's Honourable Artillery Company to be killed since World War II.

He was described by his commanding officer, Lt Col Alastair Caie, as a "lion away from home" who lived his life fully and "courageously gave it in defence of his values".

The inquest continues.



    
    

Edited by Elaine - 06 Jul 2009 at 9:19pm

Tuesday, 7 July 2009
"Not designed for combat"

Currently running in Exeter is the inquest on the death of Pte Jack Sadler, which we covered last year, with the inquest proceedings attracting an interim report from The Daily Telegraph.

Jack, a TA volunteer in Honourable Artillery Company, was a Wimik gunner, attached to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force (BRF) serving 52 Brigade in Afghanistan during Operation Herrick 7.

On 4 December 2007, the BRF, comprising a group of Wimiks, was scouting a route for an artillery convoy of made up of two Pinzgauers each pulling a 105mm light gun, plus DROPS trucks carrying the ammunition. They were on their way to a firing point close to Musa Qala to take part in the operation to recover the town.

Making pitifully slow progress over the rough ground, they had been observed by what they feared might have been Taleban "dickers" as they had skirted a village en route before then reaching a "problematic" steep-sided wadi which they had to cross, following a route they had taken the day before – the only one which the trucks could negotiate.

Because of the heavy trucks the Force was escorting, there were only a very limited number of points at which the wadi could be crossed. While scouting the route across, Jack's Wimik hit a mine, with him sustaining fatal injuries.

No mine clearance had been carried out as the convoy was static while the reconnaissance was carried out. It was a "sitting target" and an attack was feared if it remained in one place too long, so the pressure was on to get the convoy moving again. But, on the rocky ground, the Group commander did not suspect any danger. There were no "Combat Indicators" suggesting trouble and no one in the group "sensed" any danger.

Had there been enough helicopters, the two guns and their supplies of ammunition could easily have been transported by air – as underslung loads. This would be an easy job for a Chinook. But, with a major operation in the offing, there was no spare capacity and, therefore, the battery had to travel by road, with fatal results.

That then puts the focus on the Wimik, deployed in an area where the threat of mines and IEDs was ever-present. And, it emerges from the inquest that a report submitted to the coroner described it as "not designed to be used in a combat situation because of its lack of ballistic and munitions protection".

Needless to say, the Ministry of Defeat is represented at the inquest, with Col Charles Clee holding the line. He was quick to stress that Wimik has since been replaced with newer models fitted with better protection against mines and roadside bombs.

Clee, who is deputy head of urgent operational requirements at the MoD also stated that Wimiks were "valuable to commanders because of their flexibility." Their light weight meant they could operate on local roads. He also trotted out the familiar line that, it was up to commanders on the ground to choose which types of military vehicles to use for different tasks.

Indeed there was a choice ... Wimik, Wimik or Wimik. As for it being able to operate on local roads, as a convoy escort, the BRF was being tied to a predictable route which could only be negotiated by heavy trucks. It, not the convoy, was the "sitting target".

With the Viking in the news, and the past publicity on the Snatch Land Rover, the vulnerability of the Wimik has, by and large, passed under the media radar. Yet more have been killed in Wimiks in Afghanistan than any other vehicle, at least 15 as opposed to ten in the Snatch and Jackal and eight in the Viking.

The hearing continues tomorrow so it remains to be seen what the coroner will make of this, but there is not any great confidence that local coroners can see through the dissemination poured out by the MoD. The precedents are not good.

Coroner in safety measures plea after diver death

14 July 2009
By Michael Powell
A coroner has called for a string of new safety measures following the death of a Royal Navy diver.
Portsmouth coroner David Horsley wants the Ministry of Defence to introduce new safety procedures following evidence heard at an inquest into the death of Able Seaman Christopher Johnstone at Horsea Lake on June 24 last year.

A jury at the Portsmouth Magistrates' Court inquest returned a verdict of accidental death after hearing the 42-year-old failed to breath properly on his ascent, rupturing his lungs and causing a gas embolism in the brain.

No safety aspects were found to have caused AB Johnstone's death but, after the jury's verdict, the coroner used special powers to recall Commander Paul Jones, the MoD's Superintendent of Diving, to grill him on basic safety measures.

The coroner expressed concern at evidence heard at the three-day inquest into the death of AB Johnstone, of Cheshire.

He asked Cdr Jones why diving supervisors don't have mobile phones on them, why basic breathing procedures are not reiterated to divers at pre-dive briefings and why defibrillators are not to hand at defence diving centres except for when trainees are practising.

In response, Cdr Jones said all diving supervisors had carried mobile phones since August last year so that emergency services could be called immediately.

He agreed to ensure all diving briefs from now on reminded divers of breathing techniques.

On the defibrillators issue, Cdr Jones said he had already had a meeting with top MoD medical advisers in January.

It was decided then that defibrillators were needed more at bases and ships than at dive sites.

He said: 'There was just no medical evidence why the diving community would be given defibrillators over and above military and civilian personnel in our establishments.

'Heart attacks are not a diving-related illness,' he added.

Mr Horsley said: 'I've heard what you said but I still think I'm going to ask you again to think about what equipment, including defibrillators, is on dive sites.'

The coroner will compile a report to be considered by the MoD outlining areas he thinks need to be improved in the interest of divers' safety.

The MoD has 56 days from receiving the report to detail a reply.

    

Edited by Elaine - 15 Jul 2009 at 12:51am

An inquest is to begin into the death of a Salford soldier who was killed in Afghanistan, described as the 'very epitome of a modern professional soldier' by his commanding officer.

Lance Corporal Ivano Violino, from 20 Field Squadron, 36 Engineer Regiment, was on a routine logistic convoy moving vital engineer equipment to a Forward Operating Base nearly 12 miles north-east of the town of Gereshk when the truck he was in was hit by an explosion on September 17 2007.

An emergency response helicopter was sent to the scene of the blast but despite medical efforts L/Cpl Violino was pronounced dead on arrival at the field hospital at Camp Bastion.

L/Cpl Violino, 29, had been in Afghanistan for less than three weeks when he died and was the first fatality from 36 Engineer Regiment.

He joined the Army in January 2002 and had previously served in Kuwait before being promoted to Lance Corporal in October 2004.

Following his death, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Wardlaw, Commanding Officer of 36 Engineer Regiment said L/Cpl Violino, who was known as Sean, was "the very epitome of a modern professional soldier".

"Extremely fit, enthusiastic and exceptionally hard working, he drew respect and praise in equal measure," he added.

L/Cpl Violino's wife Katey said he would be missed for "his infectious enthusiasm for life and his desire to be everyone's friend".

He was a father to twins, Ellie and Lewis, from a previous marriage.

The inquest is expected to last three days and will begin at Tunbridge Wells Police Station, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, at 10.15am on Monday.

    usual story to little to late .