MoD calls soldier training deaths from heat exhaustion 'unacceptable'

The Ministry of Defence has published its response to a damning coroner's report on the deaths of three army reservists, who overheated on an SAS training march in the Brecon Beacons.

Coroner Louise Hunt was critical of a new tracker system designed to identify soldiers moving slowly on a march, saying it "does not work".

In its response, sent last month and published today, the MoD admits there are "issues" with the system, and says it has put measures in place to overcome these.

The MoD's full response can be seen here.

Cpl James Dunsby from Trowbridge, died of multiple organ failure in hospital after collapsing on the march in July 2013. Lance corporals Edward Maher and Craig Roberts were pronounced dead on the Brecon Beacons.

The Ministry of Defence has issued an apology to the family of the Wiltshire soldier who died in an SAS exercise along with the families of two other soldiers who also died.

In a written statement, Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt said the MoD had failed to minimise risks to the soldiers and promised to stick by any recommendations made by the coroner. She also said the MoD would begin its own inquiry into the tragedy and offered to meet the families of the three soldiers.

The MP for South West Wiltshire says he's "appalled" by the failings that led to the deaths of three soldiers on an SAS test march.

An inquest found that the deaths of Corporal James Dunsby from Wiltshire, as well as Lance Corporals Edward Maher and Craig Roberts, were contributed to by neglect, and could have been avoided if the army's own regulations on heat illness had been followed.

Dr Andrew Murrison, a former defence minister who served in Iraq, is to ask the Ministry of Defence to ensure changes are made that will prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

"A culture of cover-ups" and planning "on the back of a fag packet": our reporter Rupert Evelyn talks to a member of the SAS about the background to the inquest into the deaths of three soldiers on a training exercise.

The coroner ruled today that neglect played a part in their deaths, and that they would not have died if the army's own regulations on heat illness had been followed.

A coroner has ruled that neglect contributed to the deaths of three soldiers, including Corporal James Dunsby from Wiltshire, who collapsed during a 16-mile SAS training march.

Recording narrative verdicts at an inquest in Solihull, senior Birmingham coroner Louise Hunt said all three soldiers would have survived if Ministry of Defence regulations on heat illness had been followed.

Ms Hunt criticised inadequate planning, badly functioning technology, a "chaotic" response to the men's initial collapse, and "a catalogue of very serious mistakes" by many people in the organisation.

Corporal Dunsby died in hospital from multiple organ failure more than two weeks after collapsing on the march in July 2013. Lance corporals Edward Maher and Craig Roberts were pronounced dead on the Brecon Beacons after suffering heatstroke.

The Army has apologised for the deaths of three soldiers who died during an SAS training process, after the coroner ruled that neglect contributed to their deaths.

Speaking outside the coroner's court, spokesman Brigadier John Donnelly described James Dunsby, Craig Roberts and Edward Maher as "fine soldiers", though incorrectly referring to Corporal Dunsby as James Dunsford.

Cpl James Dunsby, from Wiltshire, collapsed during the march in the Brecon Beacons in July 2013, and died from multiple organ failure in hospital two weeks later. His wife has challenged the Ministry of Defence to accept responsibility and make the right changes.

Lance corporals Edward Maher and Craig Roberts were pronounced dead on the march after suffering heatstroke.

Brigadier Donnelly said changes had already been made to the particular training procedure that led to the men's deaths, but that the Army would study the coroner's conclusions closely.

The widow of a soldier who died after an SAS training march has demanded that the Ministry of Defence accept responsibility for the failures which led to her husband's death.

As the coroner rules that James Dunsby died because of failings in how the training was organised and managed, Bryher Dunsby has said outside the coroner's court that the MoD has "displayed no responsibility, no accountability and no humility".

In an emotional tribute to her husband, she described him as "chivalrous, loyal and high-spirited", and urged those who knew him to remember him as he was in life rather than by how he died.

She said he would have been "so hugely disappointed" in an organisation that he loved, and that these mistakes would happen again unless those at the top were willing to acknowledge them.

Mrs Dunsby challenged the MoD to make the right changes to "equipment training and to procedure", so that the death of Cpl Dunsby, as well as those of Lance Corporals Edward Maher and Craig Roberts, were not in vain.