This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-30224841
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Capt Richard Holloway inquest: Coroner breaks down in tears | Capt Richard Holloway inquest: Coroner breaks down in tears |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A coroner broke down in tears while summing up at the inquest into the death of a soldier in Afghanistan. | A coroner broke down in tears while summing up at the inquest into the death of a soldier in Afghanistan. |
| Capt Richard Holloway, of the Special Boat Service, was hit by enemy fire in 2013 while on operations east of Kabul. | |
| The 29-year-old from County Durham was the 447th British soldier to be killed in the country since 2001. | |
| Coroner Andrew Tweddle, whose son died in a car accident, said he would "feel very proud" to hear tributes to his son like those paid to Capt Holloway. | Coroner Andrew Tweddle, whose son died in a car accident, said he would "feel very proud" to hear tributes to his son like those paid to Capt Holloway. |
| He concluded that Capt Holloway, from Hamsterley, died from gunshot wounds sustained while on active operational duty in Afghanistan. | |
| The former Royal Engineer was shot in the pelvis and thigh during a night operation in mountainous terrain, the inquest in Crook heard. | |
| His commanding officer, identified as Officer C and giving evidence from behind a screen to safeguard special forces "operational effectiveness", carried him off the mountain but said he knew he was already dead. | |
| "Rich died with a rifle in his hand, he died doing the job that he absolutely loved and he died protecting the freedoms the Afghan people enjoyed, like the people in the UK," Officer C said. | |
| At the conclusion of the inquest, Mr Tweddle wept as he repeated Officer C's words and said: "I have difficulty saying this. | |
| "My son died some years ago in a car crash. If someone had said to me what that officer had said, I would feel very proud." |