‘Gross failures’ by military chiefs led to deaths of SAS reservists, coroner rules

A coroner has ruled that there were “gross failures” by Britain’s Ministry of Defence in the deaths of three Army reservists who died during an SAS test week march. Lance Corporals Craig Roberts and Edward Maher and Corporal James Dunsby died after the incident on 13 July 2013 in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Delivering her ruling, coroner Louise Hunt said there were “systemic failings” by the MoD, highlighting a lack of preparation and poor organisation on the day of the event. She said the failures did not amount to unlawful killing but that the deaths had been “contributed to by neglect” and that all three men would have survived if the march had been cancelled earlier. The coroner concluded that LCpl Roberts and LCpl Maher died of hyperthermia, while Cpl Dunsby died of major organ failure related to hyperthermia.

Those running this march were fundamentally under-briefed.

Coroner Louise Hunt

If Ministry of Defence protocol had been followed, the march would have been stopped on three occasions, she said. The coroner said an emergency plan listed the wrong hospital as closest to the march and that mobile phone signal problems meant 999 calls were cut off, causing extra delays. A tracking system intended to update the movements of individual soldiers every 10 minutes was also “not fit for purpose”, she said. LCpl Roberts was found collapsed less than half a mile from the finish in an area known as VW Valley. LCpl Maher’s GPS tracker showed him stationary for at least 44 minutes before anyone noticed. It took between 40-75 minutes for Cpl Dunsby’s lack of progress to be noticed.

In the case of each soldier there was a failure to provide basic medical care which contributed to their deaths.

Ms Hunt

Europe SAS inquest