Army officer jailed after soldier died on training exercise

AN ARMY officer has been jailed for 18 months after being convicted over the killing of a soldier who came under fire while relaxing with comrades during a training exercise.

Capt Jonathan Price, 32, was also dismissed from the Army after being found guilty of the manslaughter of Ranger Michael Maguire, 21, by gross negligence, following a seven-week court martial at Bulford, Wilts.

Rgr Maguire, from Co Cork, Ireland, was one of several soldiers who came under machine-gun fire during an exercise at the Castlemartin Training Area in Pembrokeshire in May 2012 for members of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment. He died after being hit in the forehead by a stray bullet from a machine gun fired from more than half a mile away. The live exercise came ahead of a deployment to Kenya.

Two other officers, Lt Col Richard Bell, 46, and WO Stuart Pankhurst, 40, were convicted of negligently performing a duty. Lt Col Bell lost one year’s seniority, while WO2 Pankhurst was fined £3,000.