By Anders Anglesey

Copyright mirror

A special forces soldier nearly killed a colleague by shooting him seven times at point blank range. Details of the accident revealed the top serviceman received a suspended jail term at a Wiltshire military court, who said there were numerous safety failures after it emerged live ammo was used instead of blanks during a training exercise. The victim, known as Soldier A, was struck in the chest and arms following the mix-up. Soldier A suffered life-changing injuries and post traumatic stress and was medically discharged. Lieutenant Colonel Emma Whiting teared up as she read out Soldier A’s statement to the military court. The victim said: “There is no doubt, if I hadn’t been wearing my body armour, I would have been shot dead.” There had been no compulsory order to use body armour for the drill, reports The Sun . Soldier A said he decided to make to wear it that night as he made the other equipment he had fit better. Bulford Military Court then heard the shooter, named as Soldier B, put the wrong ammunition in his assault rifle when he reloaded the gun in the dark. He went on to admit duty negligently and got a six-month suspended prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 in compensation to Soldier A. Assistant Judge Advocate General Jane England said there had been numerous safety failures by the military that had reduced Soldier B culpability. The court heard a planned safety briefing had been cancelled and that magazines with blanks look near identical to live rounds. Names of the soldiers, their unit as well as the location of the January 2019 hostage drill were all kept secret on the grounds of national security. Soldier B was an experienced serviceman and it had been his first time training with a top-secret unit, the court heard. He went on to tell the court martial he quickly loaded his weapon as “speed was of the essence” and “he didn’t want to be the last person ready.” The area where the gun was loaded had been lit by street lights. He mistakenly believed he packed live ammo magazines in a separate compartment to the blanks. “He failed to properly check the magazine matter before inserting it,” Prosecutor Lt Col Whiting told the court. Soldier B had not expected to take a “shooting role” but that he stepped up to defend colleagues during the exercise. Soldier A had been playing the role of an enemy, the court heard. He ended up suffering injuries to his left forearm, abdomen, chest and right arm. The soldier has undergone several surgeries with his left arm needing extensive reconstruction. and the right side of his chest needed to undergo reconstruction. Soldier A said: “My injuries have changed my life and will continue to have an impact.” Soldier B was revealed to have apologised to the victim in hospital. Judge England found the soldier fired 23 live rounds during the exercise but it was the “last seven rounds that caused life-changing injuries.”