Irish soldier shot dead in exercise at army camp
LIVE shooting exercises at a British Army range where a young Irish soldier died were often poorly planned, a court martial has heard.
Ranger Michael Maguire, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, was one of several soldiers who came under machine gun fire at the Castlemartin Training Area in Pembrokeshire, England, in May 2012.
The 21-year-old, from Cork, was shot in the forehead and killed during the exercise which was preparing the troops for deployment to Kenya.
Capt Jonathan Price, 32, now of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish, is accused of the manslaughter by gross negligence through failing to set up and supervise a safe exercise.
Lt Col Richard Bell, 45, and 40-yearold Warrant Officer Stuart Pankhurst, are accused of negligently performing a
COURT MARTIAL IN BULFORD
duty. The prosecution alleges Capt Price failed to attend a recce of the range when preparing a Range Action Safety Plan, that he placed targets too close together and failed to “deconflict” two exercises.
Lt Col Bell, the senior planning officer, is accused of failing to review or countersign the Rasp produced by Capt Price and failing to supervise or support him.
Staff Sgt Pankhurst, who was supervising the exercise involving Rgr Maguire on Range 10A, is accused of failing to “express any caution or concern” despite having attended the recce and having knowledge of the extent of the adjacent shooting on Range 10B. Retired Warrant Officer Sean Meaker, who was based at Castlemartin at the time of the death, criticised the quality of many Rasps prepared ahead of exercises.
He told the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire: “There were too many poor quality Rasps being submitted which should have not passed the proof reading stage within the author’s own unit.”
Mr Meaker said he met Lt Col Bell, Sgt Philip Barnes and a D Company officer a few weeks before the exercise started.
He added: “We discussed all activities taking place on the range on consecutive days. If I had asked for separate Rasps that would have involved copying and cutting and pasting the same information. This is the real world.
“You are going to produce a covering document detailing roles and responsibilities. If that is consistent I don’t need to see the same documentation four times.
“What I do need to see is evidence of detailed planning of all those activities that are taking place.
“That side of the detail was really poor with a lot of the units coming through.”
Fiona Eddington, representing Capt Price, suggested to the witness his briefing during the visit had given the soldiers the impression they only needed to produce one Rasp for the whole week.
Mr Meaker replied: “If that’s how they left, it’s how they left. It’s not how I put it across to them.”
All three defendants deny the charges and the trial before a board of seven senior officers continues.
What I need to see is evidence of detailed planning of all activities SEAN MEAKER