Army Inquest Backlog Grows
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Money urgently needed to reduce the vast backlog of inquests into soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan has not been provided by the government, raising fresh fears that existing delays will grow longer.
Despite pledges to cut the time military families must wait for an inquest, the coroner with responsibility for the issue has still to receive extra cash months after ministers promised that it would be made available.
Since assuming responsibility for deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq, David Masters, the Wiltshire coroner, has been told to deal with the 57 UK service personnel who have died since April.
Despite a meeting with the Minister for Justice, Jack Straw, he has yet to receive additional help.
More than 100 families of soldiers still do not know how their loved ones were killed. Some widows have been waiting almost four years for an inquest. A spokesman for the Wiltshire coroner's office said: 'We will need to hire extra staff to deal with the workload. Unless there is extra support there will be delays.' Wiltshire county council and its chief constable have also called for extra funds for their coroner's court.
The problems come ahead of a campaign to be launched by the Royal British Legion this week accusing the government of failing to uphold the military covenant which says soldiers should always be able to expect fair treatment in return for the rights they give up. Chief among their concerns are the delays of military inquests, medical care and compensation, an issue highlighted by the case of 23-year-old paratrooper Ben Parkinson who was initially awarded only ?152,150 despite needing care for the rest of his life. It will also warn that soldiers cannot be expected to be treated in wards alongside civilian patients, citing the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, based at Selly Oak hospital as a success but warning that standards of care cannot be allowed to slip. The launch has been timed ahead of the autumn party conference season to ensure that the state's treatment of veterans and serving personnel becomes a key political issue.
The legion is expected to call on the government to provide legal counsel to relatives of those who have been killed while serving their country.
Questions about the delays in dealing with military inquests were initially raised last year. In October, the then constitutional affairs minister, Harriet Harman, said the backlog would be 'sorted out'. Additional funds - around ?100,000 - were given to the Oxfordshire coroner, then responsible for the work. It was switched after bodies began to arrive in RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire instead.
Two more British soldiers were killed last night in southern Afghanistan during heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents. The soldiers, from the 2nd Battalion the Mercian Regiment died after a patrol was attacked in Helmand province. A number of other troops were injured in the battle, two seriously.
More than 230 UK service personnel have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since operations began.
Item courtesy of Modoracle and Guardian Unlimited.
