MoD accused over soldier's death

Lance Corporal Sean Tansey, 26, would have lived had his unit been equipped with wooden 'skidding' planks he should have used to cushion the fall of the Spartan he was servicing.

Oxfordshire Coroner Andrew Walker recorded a narrative verdict on L/Cpl Tansey's death at the UK base near Sangin, in northern Helmand, saying that neglect by the MoD contributed to his demise.

Attacking the failures of training and equipment supplies the coroner said: "I cannot begin to imagine the suffering of Lance Corporal Tansey's family. It seems to me that from the beginning they understood that this was a tragedy that should not have happened.

"This court has heard evidence of the failure to provide basic equipment for the maintenance of vehicles, which has been described by one witness as amounting to a gross or serious failure.

"It is quite unfair that the soldiers should be criticised when their training was not adequate and their equipment was not sufficient. For this reason Lance Corporal Tansey lost his life."

REME expert Lee Hodges had told the inquest that the cushioning planks, known as "skidding", employed to stop falling vehicles crushing soldiers, would have saved the young man's life.

Lance Corporal Edward Sampson, who was helping to repair the tank's broken torsion bar on August 12 2006, told told the court the team had no wooden planks for cushioning any potential vehicle fall, but only "some bits of sh*tty old pallet" to use instead.

The court also heard there was no adequate jack for L/Cpl Tansey's Household Cavalry comrades to lift the vehicle off his body, and they had to wait for a passing forklift to help them out.

Mr Walker said: "The training and equipment were inadequate for the repair of this vehicle. Lance Corporal Tansey's death was contributed to by neglect."