Inquest hears of Iraq car crash

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Two SAS soldiers died when the car they were in crashed after a barbecue party near Baghdad, an inquest has been told.

Oxford Coroner's Court heard that Major James Stenner, 30, from Monmouthshire, and Sgt Norman Patterson, 28, from Staffordshire, had been drinking.

Sgt Patterson, who was driving, had more than twice the UK's legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

The inquest heard streetlights were off for security reasons and there was light fog in the area.

The men had earlier been socialising at an informal gathering for the New Year in 2004, arranged to build links with the local community.

'Neither appeared drunk'

Witnesses said that neither man was seen drinking or appeared to be drunk.

However assistant deputy coroner Selina Lynch said that she suspected that the men were of a build that allowed them to tolerate "a large amount of alcohol".

She added that Sgt Patterson might have appeared capable of driving, "but he wasn't".

The men were killed instantly when the car careered off the road close to their base, hitting a concrete bollard.

Accident investigators found that neither man had been wearing a seatbelt, which they said could have saved their lives.

Major Stenner of the Welsh Guards leaves a wife, Sarah. Sgt Patterson, from the Cheshire Regiment, was single.