MoD should be prosecuted for avoidable deaths

The Commons Defence Committee has said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) should be prosecuted for the avoidable deaths of Armed Forces personnel killed during training.

The Committee has claimed that it is wrong that the MoD is exempt from corporate manslaughter laws during training exercises and cannot be taken to court over the deaths, even if failings are found to have taken place.

A statement from the Committee read: "The lives of serving personnel are worth no less than those of civilians and those responsible for their deaths must be equally liable under the law."

Evidence was put forward which showed that 135 personnel have died while on training exercises since 2000 - 89 from the Army, 24 from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and 22 from the RAF.

The report follows an inquest last year into the deaths of three reservists during an SAS selection exercise in the Brecon Beacons that found a ‘catalogue of very serious mistakes’.

In response to the Committee’s report, an MoD spokesperson said: "The safety of our personnel is an absolute priority and, while each death is tragic, deaths in training are rare. We are grateful for the committee's acknowledgement of how seriously we take the risks associated with training and that we are moving in the right direction.

"We acknowledge that more needs to be done, which is why we set up the Defence Safety Authority last year. We will now carefully consider this report and respond in due course."