An inquest has heard that a “well-respected” British soldier and Afghanistan veteran, Joe Spencer, died from a catastrophic head injury after a sniper rifle discharged unexpectedly during a training exercise.
Lance Corporal Spencer, 24, died on November 1, 2016, after suffering a gunshot wound to the head while waiting to enter a sniper firing range at Tain Air Weapons Range in the Scottish Highlands.
The soldier had been waiting inside a metal ISO container used by troops preparing to enter the firing point when an L115A3 sniper rifle fired, striking the midline of his chin and causing what was described as a catastrophic injury at about 5:41pm.
At the opening of the inquest, coroner Jason Pegg said proceedings into Spencer’s death had been substantially delayed due to investigations carried out by Police Scotland and the Sheriff of Grampian, Highland and Islands.
On the evening of the incident, soldiers were waiting to be called onto the firing range, where they would either stand or lie down before firing their weapons.
According to the coroner, it was a dark and cold November evening when a round was discharged from a rifle and struck the soldier in the head.
The jury was told it would need to determine whose rifle fired the shot, where the weapon was positioned, why a round was discharged, and why ammunition had been chambered in the rifle at the time.
Jurors will also consider the position of the safety catch and how the firing pin struck the cartridge.
“Was the trigger pulled, was the rifle knocked, or was it something else?” Pegg asked during the hearing.
The jury will also be shown an example of the L115A3 sniper rifle to understand how the weapon operates and how it is normally made safe.
A post-mortem examination confirmed that the bullet entered through the midline of Spencer’s chin and caused fatal injuries.
Spencer, from Hampshire, was the youngest of three brothers and joined the British Army in February 2011 at the age of 18 as a member of the 3rd Battalion The Rifles.
During his service, he was deployed to Afghanistan where he was seriously wounded in a grenade attack. After undergoing about 18 months of treatment and recovery, he returned to operational duty and was later promoted to Lance Corporal in May 2015.
