Sniper’s death in accident blamed on ‘big boys’ rules’
THE Army snipers’ culture of “big boys’ rules” led to the death of a trainee marksman who shot himself in the face, a report has found.
Soldiers on a training course were “mistakenly held in higher regard than their limited sniper competencies and experience merited,” a service inquiry has concluded, due to the “culture, ethos and camaraderie [of] organisations considered special or elite”.
The inquiry into the accident which killed Lance Corporal Joe Spencer said inadequate safety supervision and poor leadership had led directly to the fatal shooting.
Unsafe behaviour and practices had gone unchallenged and mandated procedures were ignored.
The report said that soldiers with a specialised role who had achieved a high level of training often felt they needed less supervision, a culture that Air Marshal Sir Richard Garwood, Director General of the Defence Safety Authority, described as “big boys’ rules”.
Whilst such an attitude might be appropriate in “special [or] elite” units, he said, allowing it to exist on the sniper operators’ course was “particularly inappropriate” and had resulted in “lower levels of supervision”.
Lcpl Spencer sustained a single gunshot wound to the head at RAF Tain weapons range in the north of Scotland while on a on a sniper operators’ course, in November 2016.
The report found that a lack of supervision had allowed him to leave the firing point without unloading his rifle correctly. Lcpl Spencer was observed resting the butt of his rifle on his boot, with the barrel under his chin.
The inquiry concluded that as he bounced the rifle up and down, the trigger snagged on a piece of equipment.
Criticising the report, Lcpl Spencer’s family said there were “numerous unanswered questions due to the abundance of unsubstantiated speculations and assumptions and factual inaccuracies and inconsistencies.
“It is clear to us the individuals responsible for delivering the sniper training course did not do so in accordance with the mandated course syllabus and requisite rules and regulations,” they said.
“We strongly believe Joe would still be with us today if they had complied.”