'Flawed' training contributed to officer's death
Summary
A coroner concluded that flawed training and a faulty alarm contributed to the 2022 death of Second Lt Max George during an Army exercise on Salisbury Plain. The Ministry of Defence said it had made safety improvements and would respond to issues raised at the inquest.Key Facts
- George, 26, died on 21 June 2022 near Everleigh after a Warrior armoured vehicle reversed into him as he stood by its open rear door.
- Coroner Ian Singleton said the training of the student commander who ordered the vehicle to reverse was flawed.
- An alarm that should have sounded when the Warrior's rear doors were open had been faulty since 2018 and had not been repaired.
- The coroner said the vehicle that struck George had no effective maintenance regime and was not routinely used to disembark troops.
- Lt Col Graham Watson told the inquest that a working alarm would almost certainly have prompted the driver to stop.
- The Army now prohibits Warrior vehicles from reversing with the rear door open and requires visual checks before movement.
- The Ministry of Defence said it plans to replace the Warrior fleet from 2027.
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