Parachute stunt led to Red Devils death - coroner

The Red Devils are the British Army's elite parachute display team

An elite British Army parachutist fell to his death when he was entangled in a colleague's canopy while performing a mid-air manoeuvre, a coroner has said.

Dean Walton, who acted as Company Sergeant Major with The Red Devils display team, died at an aerodrome in Spain in October 2022.

Fellow jumper Nimsdai Purja told the inquest in Winchester the stunt was unplanned and could have killed them both.

Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure.

Nimsdai Purja, a celebrated mountaineer, nearly also died, the inquest heard

Sgt Walton was off duty when he jumped with Mr Purja from 15,000 feet (4,500m) at La Juliana aerodrome near Seville on 14 October.

The married soldier, who had a one-year-old daughter, put his feet on Mr Purja's parachute at 3,000 feet (900m), the hearing was told.

Sgt Walton's head camera footage, shown at the inquest, recorded him swearing as he became entangled.

Mr Purja, a celebrated mountaineer who has climbed the world's 14 highest peaks, said Sgt Walton "probably wanted to show off".

He told the hearing: "The brutal reality is he should never come and stand on top of my canopy. I could have also been dead."

Mr Purja was asked about a Facebook post in which he said the pair had been training together, "conducting canopy handling and canopy stacking drills".

However, he told the inquest no manoeuvres had been planned, adding: "If [Sgt Walton] had discussed that, I wouldn't have allowed him."

He told the coroner: "We were losing altitude very rapidly. We were going into a G-force spin.

"I waited for a while for him to take action, then I operated the reserve [parachute]."

Mr Purja, who served with the Gurkhas and the Special Boat Service, landed safely and was found "on his knees crying" by Spanish officials, the inquest was told.

The coroner said Sgt Walton had served with "recognised distinction" in Afghanistan, helping to save the life of a US serviceman.

He said the soldier had to "brake hard" to land on Mr Purja's slower-moving parachute, causing both canopies to collapse.

Mr Pegg said: "It is more likely than not that it was not planned for Dean to land on top of Mr Purja's canopy.

"[Sgt Walton's] canopy collapsed during an attempt to perform a stacking manoeuvre, causing Dean to become entangled in parachute lines from which he could not free himself."

The coroner said Mr Purja cut away and deployed his reserve parachute at about the last possible moment to guarantee a safe landing.