Watchdog censures the MoD after a soldier, 23, was killed when his armoured vehicle's gun hit a tree and the spinning turret struck his head
Private Jethro Watson-Pickering, 23, in a military portrait photograph. The Health and Safety Executive found no safe system of work existed for driving his Scimitar armoured vehicle during Exercise Iron Storm.The Health and Safety Executive found that risk assessments identifying the danger of uncontrolled turret rotation had never been updated despite comparable incidents in earlier years.
Private Jethro Watson-Pickering, 23, of the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment, was playing the enemy in exercise Iron Storm on Salisbury Plain in October 2021 when his Scimitar fled a mock attack, its gun barrel struck a tree and a storage bin on the whirling turret hit him on the head.
The Army chief General Sir Roly Walker admits failures in training, instruction and providing 'a safe vehicle'.
HSE inspector Emma O'Hara says realistic exercises are essential but cannot justify 'uncontrolled or inadequately controlled risks'.
By accepting the Crown Censure, the MoD admitted breaching the The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
