SAS deaths inquest: ‘Too much paperwork’ to stop march
An army officer told a grieving family it would have been “too much paperwork” to cancel an SAS test march which led to three deaths, a coroner hears.
The unnamed commanding officer is alleged to have made the remark to relatives of Lance Corporal Craig Roberts shortly after they had viewed his body in a mortuary. An inquest into the deaths of L/Cpl Roberts, Lance Corporal Edward Maher and Corporal James Dunsby – who died following a march on the Brecon Beacons in South Wales in 2013 – was held on Monday.
L/Cpl Roberts, 24, from Penrhyn Bay, Conwy, was pronounced dead on the mountainside, while L/Cpl Maher and Corporal Dunsby, both 31, were taken to hospital. L/Cpl Maher died three hours later in Merthyr Tydfil’s Prince Charles Hospital, while Cpl Dunsby was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where he died on 30 July.
‘Backpacks weighing 49lb’
In a family statement, read to the hearing by her lawyer, L/Cpl Roberts’ mother Margaret questioned why the 24-year-old was “sent up there in that heat.” Family members said they asked a commanding officer whether the timing of the march could have been changed. “He replied ‘There would be too much paperwork’,” the family statement added. “We were so angry with this answer. We were being told that the march wasn’t cancelled to save on paperwork.”
The inquest also heard that the men were carrying backpacks weighing at least 49lb – not including their food and water – when they collapsed on what was one of the hottest days of the year. Louise Hunt, senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull, said 78 soldiers carrying the backpacks had set out on the march on 13 July 2013. Of those, 37 were army reservists like those who subsequently died. “They were engaged in a march and we will hear evidence in relation to the fact it ended up being one of hottest days of that year with temperatures predicted to reach 27C (80.6F),” she said.
‘Man-down’
Detective Constable David Gilbert of Dyfed-Powys Police said course information showed several soldiers were pulled off the march because of the heat. Meanwhile, the three men’s own tracking data was able to show exactly where they succumbed to conditions. L/Cpl Roberts and L/Cpl Maher had been making “good time”, then suddenly their GPS monitors showed they had stopped. At 3.36pm, L/Cpl Roberts activated his personal “man-down” beacon showing he was in trouble, and was found 25 minutes later.
His colleague, L/Cpl Maher, had set off on the same route at a slightly different time, but at 4.10pm his tracker showed he had also stopped. He was not found for another 45 minutes, and was “not breathing”. L/Cpl Maher was only about 1,000 yards from the finishing line, said Mr Gilbert. Cpl Dunsby was on a different route, but started to fall behind time – a fact he would have been aware of. “At 4.10pm, he was noted as not making any progress, but at 4.52pm he was actually found by directing staff,” said Mr Gilbert.
The earliest signs conditions were getting to some of the men were at 11.18am, when a report came in of two men – not among the dead – who were “struggling”. Between 12.14pm and 4.53pm, at least nine soldiers were recorded as having problems with the heat, including Cpl Dunsby, L/Cpl Maher and L/Cpl Roberts. The inquest had originally been due to take place at the end of last year. However, the hearing was delayed for eight months to allow the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to review its decision not to bring criminal charges of gross negligence manslaughter over the deaths. The CPS has since confirmed its original decision not to prosecute was correct.
Royal Marine trainee dies
A Royal Marine trainee collapsed and died on an exercise in Dartmoor, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Monday. The man, who has not been named, was based at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, Devon, and was taking part in a 30-mile march.
An MoD spokesman said the cause of the death was unknown.
He said: "This incident is being investigated and the thoughts and sympathies of the Naval Service are with the family and friends of this man."
The man died on Thursday during the so-called "30-miler" march across upland Dartmoor, the last major test undertaken as part of the 32-week commando course.
The MoD said the name and details of the man who died were not being released, at the request of his family.
