Iraq river blast deaths 'avoidable'

Coroner Andrew Walker made his criticisms as he ruled that the four were unlawfully killed by insurgents in Basra.

They died on the Shatt al-Arab River on November 12 last year when a remote-control explosive mounted on a bridge was detonated as their boat passed underneath.

The inquest in Oxford heard the deaths may have been avoided if the Royal Marines Rigid Raiding Craft had been equipped with an electronic counter measure (ECM), a device which prevents such bombs from being detonated. There were plenty of the kits in theatre at the time but the boat did not have one.

The hearing was also told how the bridge where the bomb was planted was not searched beforehand - something Mr Walker, assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, said amounted to "a really serious failure to follow basic procedure".

Mr Walker, recording his verdicts, added: "This was an entirely avoidable incident if the basic principles (of military training) had been followed.

"A vulnerable point (in this case the bridge) should not be crossed unless a search of the point has been carried out. There was no search of the area as required by basic training and the bridge, in these circumstances, should not have been negotiated.

"The protective measures (ECMs) available, carried on two of the (three) boats, did not prevent the explosion. Had all the boats carried such measures, it is more likely than not that the explosion would not have occurred."

Those killed were: Warrant Officer Class 2 Lee Hopkins, 35, of the Royal Corps of Signals, a married father of one from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire; Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott, 34, of the Intelligence Corps, originally from Ipswich, Suffolk; Corporal Ben Nowak, 27, of 45 Commando Royal Marines, from Speke, Liverpool; and Marine Jason 'Jay' Hylton, 33, of 539 Assault Squadron Royal Marines, a divorced father of two from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.

Cpl Nowak's father James, a former naval serviceman from Southampton, said afterwards: "Not enough was done, not enough thought was given to this. They (the Royal Marines) are the sea soldiers, the elite force. It's very frustrating. At the end of the day they made a cock-up and that's that."