Father of shot soldier calls for ‘lessons to be learned’

THE FATHER of a young soldier who was accidentally shot dead by a comrade while on active service in Afghanistan yesterday called for “lessons to be learned” from the tragedy.

Lance Corporal Michael Pritchard (22), from Eastbourne, East Sussex, was killed by gunfire from a remote observation post fired by sniper Lance Corporal Malcolm Graham, of The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion, who thought he was shooting at Taliban insurgents, an inquest at Eastbourne Town Hall was told.

L/cpl Pritchard, who was on secondment with 4th Battalion The Rifles, was deployed to the observation post N30 on December 20 2009 to watch a blind spot on an access road, Route 611, in the Sangin area, central Helmand province, to make sure insurgents did not plant improvised explosive devices (IEDS) in the road, the inquest was told.

East Sussex coroneralan Craze recorded a verdict of accidental death and said a number of factors, including poor communication, had played a part but that the basic reason for the tragedy was the failure of the system which would have prevented ‘blue on blue’contact.

Speaking outside, L/ Cpl Pritchard’s father Gary said: “We hope and trust that the army will take steps to ensure that this does not happen again.”

Mr Craze said that despite erroneous decisions being made, L/cpl Pritchard’s death was an accident, albeit an avoidable one. He said the circumstances the soldiers had found themselves in were not calm or rational and they faced heightened vulnerability.