MoD is censured after Fusilier died from shot during training
THE Ministry of Defence has been issued with a Crown Censure by the Health and Safety Executive over the death of Fusilier Dean Griffiths, who was shot in the neck on a training exercise in 2011.
The 21-year-old, whose partner was expecting their first child, received a fatal bullet wound to the neck during a “live” training exercise at Lydd Ranges military firing range in Kent.
The exercise involved troops approaching a specially-built compound that had been created to simulate the type of building the troops would encounter in Afghanistan.
The soldier, from Market Drayton in Shropshire, was serving with the 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh when the incident happened.
The HSE said there was an assault group to enter and secure the compound and a fire support group to provide cover.
“The compound contained both enemy and civilian targets in order to train the troops’ judgment. The targets were made from thin plywood to allow the live bullets to pass through them and avoid ricochets,” it said.
The HSE said its investigation found it was usual practice on site that unused targets were laid on the floor to give the appearance of debris, but on this occasion an unused target had been stood up in the wrong place.
“Fusilier Griffiths was part of the assault group, and was lined up against the wall of the compound while the wall was breached with a simulated explosion. Two colleagues entered the compound, followed by a safety supervisor, and panned left and right to deal with any initial enemy combatants.”
The HSE’s investigation found that as one of the troops entered and turned right he saw an enemy target and fired two shots at the target.
Almost immediately someone shouted for the exercise to stop and all the men laid down their weapons.
Fusilier Griffiths had been shot as he lined up on the other side of the compound wall. The bullet had passed through the incorrectly placed enemy target, through the compound wall and hit Fusilier Griffiths in the neck. He died at the scene.
The HSE said the incident could have been prevented by not using targets as debris and by introducing a final walk through before each run through by the officer in charge of the range.