A special forces soldier was left with life-changing injuries after being accidentally shot by a fellow serviceman seven times at point-blank range with live ammunition.
The incident happened during a hostage training exercise in which the shooter mistakenly believed he had loaded his weapon with blanks, The Sun reported.
Due to national security concerns, the location, as well as the soldiers’ names and unit, have not been released – but the accident happened in January 2019.
The squaddie responsible for the shooting was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence at Bulford Military Court.
Named as Soldier B, he was an experienced soldier who was training with the elite unit for the first time, the judge heard.
Indeed, the court was told that his eagerness to impress may have played a role in the mishap since ‘he didn’t want to be the last person ready’ while rapidly reloading his gun in an area with low lighting.
The injured party, known as Soldier A, was left with life-altering injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The extent of his injuries were such that he was granted a medical discharge from the Armed Forces – and likely only escaped with his life due to the optional body armour he chose to wear that day.
A special forces soldier was left with life-changing injuries after being accidentally shot by a fellow serviceman seven times at point-blank range with live ammunition
In his victim statement, read out by Lieutenant Colonel Emma Whiting, Soldier A said: ‘There is no doubt, if I hadn’t been wearing my body armour, I would have been shot dead.’
The Wiltshire-based court martial heard that there had been a litany of safety failures on the day.
Those mitigating factors included a cancelled safety briefing that had been scheduled to take place.
Additionally, there was very little to visually distinguish between the magazines holding the blanks and those containing the live rounds.
The training exercise involved soldiers pairing off into two teams, with Soldier A roleplaying as an enemy and Soldier B part of the team looking to extract the hostage.
However, Soldier B said he unexpectedly took up a ‘shooting role’ since his fellow servicemen had already ‘died’ as the scenario played out.
Disaster struck when Soldier B loaded live ammunition into magazines to be used in the exercise, with Prosecutor Lt Col Whiting telling the court: ‘He failed to properly check the magazine matter before inserting it.’
As he was posted by the door to a conference room full of pretend ‘civilians’ held hostage he opened fire on Soldier A – seeing blood explode from his forearm.
Soldier B initially believed the screams and blood were details designed to make the simulated scenario feel immersive.
Judge England found that he had fired 23 live rounds over the duration of the hostage taking drill, but the last seven were the ones that damaged Soldier A – leaving him with serious wounding to his chest, abdomen, right arm and left forearm.
He has since undergone multiple reconstructive surgeries and been left with lifelong scarring.
Soldier A said: ‘My injuries have changed my life and will continue to have an impact.’
The court heard how Soldier B offered an apology to his victim while visiting him in hospital.
Soldier B admitted to performing a duty negligently and alongside his suspended sentence was also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to Soldier A.
