British ex-soldier Stuart Coburn killed when IED detonated in Iraq

Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service led the effort to drive ISIS from Ramadi

A British former soldier was killed in Iraq when the bomb he was trying to defuse exploded, an inquest heard.

Stuart Coburn, 43, was working as a contractor in Ramadi in August 2016.

The former Army sergeant major was attempting to neutralise the improvised explosive device (IED) inside a skip when it detonated, Somerset Coroner's Court was told.

The so-called Islamic State group (ISIS) left the device behind when it was driven from the area.

The device, made from five gas canisters, was accompanied by a radio control trigger - set off by a mobile phone - and a dead man's switch operated by movement.

Mr Coburn was working for an international mine clearance company when he died.

Devices 'well made'

Giving evidence, Brig Gareth Collett, who retired from the Army as the Ministry of Defence's senior explosive ordnance engineer and head of bomb disposal, said Isis would have planned to put the skip on the back of a lorry to target military personnel.

"What Islamic State had was time - a lot of time to make a lot of devices," he said.

• How ISIS booby-trapped a city

"The radio-controlled devices were pretty well made and designed.

"When you are dealing with that level of skill or sophisticated device, you either leave it or wait for someone suitably qualified to come and deal with it."

Brig Collett said the radio-controlled trigger would have been the back-up - with the primary method of detonation being the dead man's switch controlled by a suicide bomber driving the skip lorry.

Iraqi forces fought with ISIS fighters in Ramadi in 2016

"The attrition rate was very high, and they were being decimated by the coalition response, and they probably ran out of lorries to put that skip on to," he said.

Isis members could have been watching the IED, and were potentially prepared to set it off with a phone, Brig Collett said, but he thought that was unlikely.

To try and stop bombs being set off remotely, Iraqi authorities used electronic counter measures to jam mobile phone signals, the inquest was told.

Senior Somerset coroner Samantha Marsh asked Brig Collett what the British military would have done in the circumstances.

He replied: "On initial discovery we would have left it like Mr Coburn did. We would have discussed with the elders and the chiefs in the village.

"We would have come back with electronic counter measures.

"The first thing to do is take control of the switch.

"You have to be able to dominate the area, and if you can do that, you want electronic measures to drive them out of the area."

Hindsight 'wonderful thing'

The international contractors did not have access to jammers on the day of the blast and were not allowed to blow the IED up, the inquest heard.

Asked about the most likely cause for the explosion, Brig Collett said: "You are asking me what do I think happened?

"I think it was probably the way in which the wires were cut.

"The safest outcome would have been to refer it to the Iraqi authorities - it's their responsibility and they have the duty to their people.

"I would have blown it up where it was, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

"The device was high risk but the environment around it was low risk so what's the rush?

"When you meet these people that have absolutely nothing and you see these awful things in the way, you want to try and help."

The inquest continues.