Soldier died after being shot in head during training exercise, inquest hears
A young soldier died after a bullet was shot through his helmet during a live training exercise, an inquest heard.
Private Conor McPherson, 24, had been moving toward a target at the Otterburn Training Area in Northumberland in August 26.
He was among a group of five soldiers who had travelled from Inverness to take part in the night-time training exercise.
Northumberland Coroner’s Court heard the 24-year-old, who was serving with A Company, 3 Scots – The Black Watch – was shot in the head by another soldier.
Pvt McPherson fell to the ground and, despite resuscitation attempts, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Doctor Jennifer Bolton, who carried out the post-mortem examination, said the bullet came through his helmet.
She said: ‘He had one significant injury, a gun shot entrance wound to the right side of the head.
‘He died as a result of head injury that came from a gun shot wound to the head. The head injury caused him to become instantly unconscious.
‘He would not have been aware of it. He would not have felt anything of it. The second that injury was inflicted there was nothing that could been done to change the outcome.’
The post mortem examination concluded the cause of death as a head injury.
Pvt McPherson, from Paisley, Renfrewshire, was wearing different night vision goggles to the rest of the team, the inquest heard.
The court heard the targets he and the others had moved towards did not have any thermal tape added to them ahead of the exercise.
Jurors were also told a Range Action Safety Plan had been carried out ahead of the training exercise but was sent back because it was not sufficient.
The senior planning officer for exercise told the court it was believed to be due to an issue with sketch maps and it was ‘quite normal’ for range control to send them back.
The inquest continues.
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