Two SAS soldiers have been charged with negligence over the deaths of three soldiers who died on a training course in the Brecon Beacons in 2013.
The pair, who were overseeing a 16-mile test march in searing temperatures, will go on trial accused of ‘negligent performance of duty’.
Cpl James Dunsby, Trooper Edward Maher and L/Cpl Craig Roberts collapsed in scorching temperatures while carrying heavy packs over a time trial mountain march mountain in a bid to join the world-famous Special Forces unit in July 2013.
A coroner in 2015 ruled they died from neglect.
Cpl James Dunsby (left) and (right) Trooper Edward Maher who collapsed during an SAS training exercise in July 2013
L/Cpl Craig Roberts also died after taking part in the military exercise in the Brecon Beacons
L/Cpl Roberts, 24, from Penrhyn Bay, Conwy and L/Cpl Maher, 31 of Winchester died on the exercise, while Cpl Dunsby, 31, of Bath, was taken to hospital and died from multiple organ failure 17 days later.
All had suffered from hyperthermia, where the body no longer controls core temperature.
Known only as 1A and 1B, the SAS soldiers face two years’ jail and dismissal from the forces if found guilty.
The soldiers’ inquest in 2015 heard a failure of basic medical care contributed to their deaths, and the Army said it accepted it did not carefully manage the risks involved in the exercise.
Coroner Louise Hunt said parts of the planning and conduct of the march were inadequate or not fit for purpose. She said inadequate supplies of water also contributed to one of the deaths.
Initially, the military’s Service Prosecuting Authority had decided not to charge the two soldiers, who were the training officer and chief instructor during SAS reserves selection.
Three SAS reservists suffered heat exhaustion on a time trial mountain march in the Brecon Beacons in July 2013
But relatives of the soldiers lodged a review with the SPA and its decision was reversed.
The case will be heard in a military court and the maximum sentence is two years.
An MOD spokesperson said: ‘Any decision to prosecute any personnel, veteran or serving, is made by the Service Prosecution Authority (SPA), an independent body.’
Lawyers who represented Cpl Dunsby’s father David at the inquest, and provided evidence at a subsequent parliamentary inquiry into military training exercises, said the Ministry of Defence had refused to accept corporate responsibility for deaths in training, exercises and selection events.
Hilary Meredith, chairwoman at Hilary Meredith Solicitors and a visiting professor of law and veterans’ affairs at the University of Chester, said the MoD was ‘ignoring the will of a parliamentary inquiry and flying in the face of public opinion in the process’.
‘In any other corporate environment the employer, in this case the Ministry of Defence (MoD), would take corporate responsibility and face a manslaughter charge,’ she said.
Her colleague, director of the firm Clare Stevens, said it should be the MoD in the dock and accused it of ‘looking for scapegoats’.
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