It seems three deaths are not enough for the Army to change
THE widow of a soldier who died while training for SAS selection on one of the hottest days of the year called the Army’s response “beyond unacceptable” last night.
Bryher Dunsby’s husband James was one of three men who succumbed to heat-related illness following a gruelling 16-mile exercise march in the Brecon Beacons in July 2013.
Two Special Forces members acting as safety officers were acquitted of negligence at a court martial which heard “systemic failures” in the command set-up were to blame.
But relatives of the dead men demanded fundamental changes and for defence chiefs to be stripped of immunity from prosecution.
Speaking outside the hearing, Mrs Dunsby said: “This court martial has revealed the shocking reality that there is still no official guidance for those conducting endurance training marches in the British Army on heat illness even five years on.
“This is beyond unacceptable and shows blatant ignorance to a vital need, where apparently three deaths are not enough to incite change.”
Mrs Dunsby called on the head of the Army, General Mark CarletonSmith, to prioritise new rules on heat illness and endurance exercises.
She said: “The MoD are still protected from prosecution for corporate manslaughter by Crown immunity.
Extreme
“There is an obvious need for this in live combat, but I believe not in training in Wales. Without ultimate accountability or punishment there is no incentive to do the right thing.”
Tragedy struck as the soldiers tried to complete the march in temperatures approaching 83F (28.3C).
Reservists Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, 24, of Penrhyn Bay, North Wales, and Lance Corporal Edward Maher, 31, of Winchester, Hants, were pronounced dead from heatstroke.
Corporal Dunsby, 31, from Trowbridge, Wilts, died two weeks later of multiple organ failure in hospital.
The three were among 78 troops carrying 60lb backpacks and dummy rifles as they raced to meet a time limit of eight hours and 48 minutes.
A captain and a warrant officer, identified only as 1A and 1B, were acquitted at a court martial of negligently performing a duty by failing to take reasonable care for the health Bryher Dunsby at yesterday’s hearing and safety of the candidates. Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett said they had no case to answer.
He told families at the hearing in Bulford, Wilts: “The deaths occurred because of the systemic failures within Joint Forces Command.
“There have been successive people within the chain of command who have failed to address their minds to the real risks involved in exercising in extreme temperatures, and who have failed to ensure that those delivering the training or invigilating the test were properly trained in all aspects.
“The two defendants did the best they could in the circumstances.”
The MoD is immune from prosecution but Joint Forces Command has received a Crown censure from the Health and Safety Executive.
Clare Stevens, who has represented members of two of the reservists’ families, said: “The two put on trial are scapegoats for those at the top.
“The MoD is immune from prosecution so it received a Crown censure – just a recording to confirm had they not been exempt from prosecution, they would have been prosecuted.”
The Army said that since 2013, heat illness prevention guidelines have been updated three times and are “embedded” in training culture.
It stressed it only has immunity from prosecution on operations or high-risk training for operations.