This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/6440795.stm

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
'Friendly fire' video to be shown 'Friendly fire' family view video
(about 3 hours later)
A video of a "friendly fire" incident which killed a UK soldier will be shown at an inquest when it resumes later. The family of a British soldier killed by "friendly fire" have seen a video of the incident at an inquest.
Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, from Berkshire, died when US A-10 "tankbuster" pilots opened fire on a convoy in southern Iraq in 2003. Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, of Windsor, died when US A-10 "tankbuster" pilots opened fire on a UK convoy in southern Iraq in 2003.
Last month, Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker ruled the cockpit tape would be shown at the hearing but not played in open court. L/Cpl Hull's family saw the US cockpit tape, lasting more than an hour, with an MoD official present.
The inquest was adjourned before the video was leaked to the Sun newspaper. The MoD had refused the let the video be used but changed its mind after the tape was leaked to the Sun newspaper.
Air attack Last month, Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker ruled that the footage could be shown at the hearing in Oxford, but not played in open court.
At a pre-inquest hearing in Oxford, Mr Walker agreed not to show the footage in public despite calling it "vital evidence". Operating procedures
The tape shows US pilots mistakenly firing at two British army tanks near the Iraqi city of Basra in March 2003. The inquest heard that if the Americans had as strict rules as the British on opening fire the incident would not have happened.
L/Cpl Hull, from the Household Cavalry Regiment, had been travelling in a column of light armoured vehicles near Basra which was attacked from the air. A British soldier, Corporal of Horse Stuart Matthews, who was in the area near Basra at the time, showed the court a document showing the differences between British forces operating procedures and those of their US counterparts .
The soldier died from multiple injuries inside his blazing Scimitar tank, despite efforts by colleagues to save him. Mr Walker asked: "If those UK mandatory requirements had been followed, do you think this would have happened?"
American request Cpl Matthews replied: "I don't sir."
Before the footage was leaked to the Sun, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) refused to allow it to be shown as evidence in court. L/Cpl Hull died and four other members of the Household Cavalry Regiment were injured in the attack on 28 March, 2003.
I've no doubt that were there culpability...that culpability would have been pursued David JohnsonUS embassy
The video will be brought to the court by an MoD official and shown to the coroner and L/Cpl Hull's family at the hearing in Oxford.
Mr Walker said he had reluctantly agreed to an American request not to show the footage in open court.
At last month's hearing, he said: "I would be wrong to accept that the US are correct in seeking to bind the hands of the coroner's court in this way but in these circumstances I feel that in order to make progress and provide the family with closure, it seems to me that I must act in this way as far as the copy of that video is concerned."
Thorough investigationsThorough investigations
No American witnesses have been put forward for the inquest, which is expected to deliver a verdict on Wednesday.No American witnesses have been put forward for the inquest, which is expected to deliver a verdict on Wednesday.
Deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in the UK, David Johnson, said investigations into such incidents were "extremely thorough". Earlier, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in the UK, David Johnson, said investigations into such incidents were "extremely thorough".
He told the BBC: "They're aimed at, in the first instance, preventing a recurrence, and in the second seeking to determine whether there is culpability, whether there should be charges, whether they're administrative in nature or whether potentially criminal, which would take place under the law which we expect these individuals to conduct themselves."He told the BBC: "They're aimed at, in the first instance, preventing a recurrence, and in the second seeking to determine whether there is culpability, whether there should be charges, whether they're administrative in nature or whether potentially criminal, which would take place under the law which we expect these individuals to conduct themselves."
He added: "I've no doubt that were there culpability here under our laws and procedures, that culpability would have been pursued."He added: "I've no doubt that were there culpability here under our laws and procedures, that culpability would have been pursued."