Soldier 'shot colleague seven times' in exercise

The soldier was given a suspended prison sentence

A soldier who shot a colleague seven times after mistakenly loading live ammunition instead of blanks into his weapon during a training exercise, involving civilians, has been sentenced.

The soldier, referred to as "Soldier B", put the wrong ammunition in his rifle when he reloaded it at speed before the exercise in 2019, Bulford Military Court in Wiltshire heard.

He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, on 9 September at the court after pleading guilty to one charge of negligently performing a duty.

The court heard the victim, known as "Soldier A", suffered life-changing injuries, has PTSD, struggles with relationships and has been medically discharged from the army.

The blank firing training exercise was a simulation including soldiers acting as enemies, including Solder A, and civilians acting as hostages, the court heard.

According to the judge, Soldier B said the loading area was "dark" when he reloaded the wrong magazine, but did check by "glancing quickly at an angle".

However the judge said the overhead light "should have been sufficient" and Soldier B "should have used either an alternative light source or indeed you could use touch because the rounds are so different".

During the exercise, Soldier A was inside a building in a scenario where he was holding hostages. When he "burst out" of the room, Solder B shot him seven times, the court heard.

'Multiple failings'

Soldier B had six years of experience before the incident, however it was his first training session in a new unit when it happened.

The judge found there were multiple failings that "could, or should, have provided the checks that would have, or could have, prevented your negligence from having the consequences that it did".

Those included there being no system to separate and identify blank and live magazines, and no official process to make sure none of the participants in the exercise had live ammunition with them.

The judge went on to say that there was nothing "nefarious" about the fact that Soldier B had removed the live magazine after the shooting as he had been seen to have said "I shot him" and was "clearly in shock".

However, they added that the aggravating factors included the fact that there were civilians on the exercise.

The judge said Solder A is "not able to fully recover" and the incident has "impacted all areas of his life".

"It has not only meant that he has lost his career but it impacts his relationship with his children and his relationship with his partner due to his struggles to cope with what happened to him," the judge added.

"There is no sentence that we could impose that would give Soldier A back the life that he enjoyed before that fateful day and nothing we can do will fully reflect his pain, the life changes, limitations and psychiatric harm he has suffered as a result of this incident."

Soldier B also has to forfeit all seniority in his current rank and pay £5,000 to Soldier A.