Widow of army officer killed in Cyprus continues fight for 'justice'

The widow of an army officer who died after being hit by a car driven by a US serviceman in Cyprus says she wants "truth, justice and accountability". Sally Oxley, who lives in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, said she had been left in the dark about the circumstances of her husband's death and wants a new inquest. Forty-year-old Colour Sgt Anthony Oxley, from Ryhill, was fatally injured after being hit by a car at the RAF Akrotiri base while riding a motorbike in June 2016. Colour Sgt Oxley, nicknamed 'The Ox', had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was on deployment in Cyprus when he died. A 2018 inquest in the UK concluded that Colour Sgt Oxley's death had been caused by multiple blunt force injuries to the head as a result of the road collision.

Mrs Oxley has been pushing for a fresh inquest in Cyprus to look into witness accounts of her husband's death.An inquest at a Nicosia district court has been opened, with Mrs Oxley saying she is "very pleased with the initial interpretation" of the verdict. She said: "The proceedings in Nicosia have at last started to establish the truth, justice and accountability about the death of my husband, and the father of our children, ‘The Ox’, which I have been striving for eight years now."Mrs Oxley will now consult her lawyers over what legal steps could be taken next. KRW Law, which represents Mrs Oxley, said the US Air Force took charge of the investigation and few details were made public, even though Colour Sgt Oxley's death took place within British sovereign territory. The law firm is now waiting for a certified translation of the coroner's verdict given in the Nicosia court. The lawyers said the new inquest is examining forensic material - including maps of the terrain where the collision took place - and witness statements.

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