Tributes to soldier shot dead during live f iring horror
TRIBUTES were last night paid to a Black Watch soldier shot in the head and killed during a night-time live firing exercise on a British base.
Private Conor McPherson died after suffering a serious head wound at the Otterburn Training Area in a remote part of Northumberland on Monday.
The ‘hugely committed’ 24-year-old soldier was a member of 3rd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and joined up two years ago.
Both the police and Ministry of Defence officials have launched investigations into his death. It was understood to have been an accident and no arrests have been made.
Troops at the time were firing SA80 assault rifles, using real ammunition, to fire at sheets of metal bearing pictures of enemy soldiers.
It was pitch black and it is thought their helmets displayed illuminated sticks to differentiate them from the targets.
At some point during the training exercise, Private McPherson, from Paisley, Renfrewshire, was shot in the head. He died at the scene.
His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Alasdair Steele, said in a statement: ‘Private McPherson was a capable young soldier who had previously trained in both Kenya and France.
‘He was hugely committed about his career in the Army, he had aspirations to join the machine gun platoon and attend a junior leadership course at the start of next year.
‘He constantly strove to develop
‘Capable young soldier’
himself physically and was well liked among his peers for his sharp wit and sense of humour.’
He added: ‘However, Private McPherson’s true passion was his parents and his older sister – he was part of a very close-knit family and his great joy was spending time with them at the weekends and over leave.
‘The entire battalion’s thoughts are very much with his family and friends.’
Private McPherson’s close friend and comrade, MattJames Mcallahan, said on Facebook: ‘Rest in peace to not only one of my closest and best friends but to a brother.
‘He was forever making my day with his crazy ideas and remarks, waking me up with a boxing glove to the face in the morning.
‘Rest in peace, brother, and I’ll see you soon enough. Like you said to me when I was down before, “Think about it like this: life is like a game, there is always a restart button”.’
He added: ‘You will be missed a lot, mate.’
Private McPherson is thought to be the 12th British soldier to die in a live-fire exercise since January 2000.
Others include Fusilier Dean Griffiths, 21, of the 1st Battalion the Royal Welsh. He was fatally wounded at a Kent firing range in September 2011 after being told to stand behind a wooden wall which held targets. He was hit in the neck and killed after a bullet passed through the wall. An inquest said the mistake was not malicious.
Ranger Michael Maguire, 21, a member of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment, was also killed after being shot during an exercise.
He was hit in the temple by a single machine gun bullet while relaxing at a secure location just outside a training range at Castlemartin firing range, Pembrokeshire, in May 2012.
An inquest jury found that Ranger Maguire was unlawfully killed.
In November 2011, Fusilier James Wilkinson, 21, from the 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was shot in the neck while manning a machine gun in a training exercise.
The incident happened when a fellow soldier asked to inspect a jammed gun, but it fired without warning.
Between 2000 and 2015 a total of 131 service personnel were killed during drills and exercises.
According to figures released by the Ministry of Defence earlier this year, there were 22 deaths during adventure training.
That included incidents while parachuting, rock climbing and water activities such as kayaking or sailing.
There were 109 deaths during all other forms of training.