Families win apology over Snatch Land Rover deaths
“I would like to express directly to you my deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay, resulting from the decisions taken at the time in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives.
“I confirm that we have learnt lessons from this.
“The Government must and will ensure that our Armed Forces are always properly equipped and resourced.”
A long legal battle culminated with a Supreme Court ruling that the families could sue for compensation under negligence and human rights law.
One victim was Private Phillip Hewett, 21, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, killed when his Snatch Land Rover was blown up by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005.
He had sought to reassure his mother by telling her he drove a Warrior armoured vehicle but he told his uncle that some soldiers deliberately lost their driving licences so they would not Sue Smith said it was ‘bittersweet’ have to drive the Snatch. His mother Sue Smith said yesterday that Sir Michael’s apology was “bittersweet” but she hoped to be able to say her son’s death had made a difference.
The Ministry of Defence said: “We offer our deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives.
“The Government acknowledges and fully accepts the findings of Sir John Chilcot’s inquiry in relation to Snatch Land Rovers.
“Our Armed Forces now use a number of highly capable and extremely well protected patrol vehicles, including Mastiff, Ridgeback, Husky and Wolfhound.”
The families’ lawyer, Jocelyn Cockburn said: “This is an important victory for the families, who have had to fight every step of the way to achieve justice.
“The MoD’s stance of ‘delay, deny and defend’ has caused untold suffering to already grief-stricken families.
“However, I am relieved that their battle is over and genuinely hope that their apology signals a sea-change in the way the MoD seeks to deal with bereaved service families.”