Army mum wins vehicle inquiry bid (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Army mum wins vehicle inquiry bid

1:52pm Friday 10th July 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

The mother of a soldier killed in a Snatch Land Rover in Iraq has won the first round of a legal battle over an investigation into the vehicles.

Susan Smith wants to force the Government to rethink its decision not to hold a public inquiry into the use of the controversial lightly-armoured vehicles in major conflict situations.

Mrs Smith, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, was given permission to seek a High Court judicial review relating to past use of the vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Mr Justice Mitting refused her leave to challenge a Ministry of Defence decision not to hold an inquiry into present and future deployment of Snatch Land Rovers - a decision he described as "unimpeachable" in the courts.

Mrs Smith's 21-year-old son Phillip Hewett, a private in the 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment, died on July 16 2005, in the Al Amarah region of Iraq in a roadside bomb attack on a patrol of three armoured Snatch Land Rovers.

Two other soldiers died in the incident. Pte Hewett, who was driving, died of his wounds at the scene while being given first aid by members of the patrol.

The Snatch was originally designed as a cheap and quick way of transporting troops in Northern Ireland.

It has been heavily criticised for failing to protect against roadside bombs following a series of deaths, around 38 in all, in Iraq and Afghanistan.