Widow hears details of Iraq soldier's 'friendly fire' death

A widow began hearing today how her tank commander husband died days after being ordered to hand back life-saving body armour.

Sergeant Steven Roberts, 33, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, was shot dead by "friendly fire" as he manned a checkpoint outside the southern Iraqi town of Az Zubayr in March 2003.

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Initially it was believed he had been shot by an Iraqi named Zaher Zaher, who had been throwing stones at him.

But a later investigation revealed he was hit by a gunner in a British Challenger tank 20 metres away, who was unaware that the L94 machine gun he used was known to be inaccurate at short-range.

Sgt Roberts, of 2 Royal Tank Regiment, was unable to defend himself because his pistol apparently jammed.

And he had been ordered to give up his enhanced combat body armour (ECBA) three days before his death due to shortages.

The death sparked massive controversy, leading to calls for then Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon to be sacked.

In August this year an Army Board of Inquiry published a report that identified a series of factors which could have prevented Sgt Roberts' death.

In it, pathologists confirmed that had Sgt Roberts not given up his body armour, the bullet that struck him in the centre of his chest would not have killed him.

Sgt Roberts' widow, Samantha, attending court today, said ahead of the inquest: "I'm just going to go with an open mind and see what happens."

She led a high-profile campaign to find out the truth about her husband's needless death and demanded a public apology from Mr Hoon for the "unfillable void" it left in her life.

Her barrister, James Rowley QC, said as proceedings began: "She wants all the facts to come out."

Assistant Deputy Coroner for Oxfordshire, Andrew Walker, agreed that the hearing "must be full, it must be fair and it must be fearless".