Faithful sniffer dog had to be cut away from body of dead soldier

A SCOTTISH army dog handler was shot in Afghanistan while "attached" to his loyal springer spaniel, which then died hours later, an inquest heard yesterday.

Lance Corporal Liam Tasker, 26, from the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, was shot by insurgents on 1 March while on patrol with his dog, Theo.

The inquest in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, heard L/Cpl Tasker, from Kirkcaldy in Fife, was attached to 2 Company, 1st Battalion Irish Guards as part of a mission to secure an area soldiers referred to as the "shark's fin" near the village of Shingazi.

L/Cpl Tasker's family and friends attending the inquest yesterday heard that four teams had left forward operating base (FOB) Kharnikah as part of the mission. L/Cpl Tasker's team came under fire from insurgents about an hour-and-a-half after leaving the base.

The inquest heard the soldiers "hit the floor" but L/Cpl Tasker was seen to fall to the ground, on top of his weapon. He had been shot in the head.

His dog, Theo, was described as "too close" to him and when medics went to help L/Cpl Tasker, the spaniel's lead had to be cut in order to provide medical attention to the soldier.

Theo, who had been running around, was caught and taken back to FOB Kharnikah where he started having fits. He was airlifted to Camp Bastion for veterinary treatment but died less than ten hours after L/Cpl Tasker.

Captain Charles Allman-Brown, who was leading the team, told the inquest that during the early stages of the patrol they had encountered what they thought might be an improvised explosive device (IED) and had started to move around it.

"Then the fire hit us. The enemy opened up. My own reaction was to hit the floor," he said. "Guardsman Barbour was screaming, I heard him call for a medic … he shouted, 'Man down, medic'. As I ran past I saw it was Liam. I sat there and put a bit of fire into the enemy. Barb was doing the first aid."

He said when he went to check on L/Cpl Tasker they had tried to turn him over, but the lead to Theo was in the way and had to be cut. "Theo was running about, he was all over the place. He didn't know what he was doing," he said.

Speaking to L/Cpl Tasker's family, he added: "In my opinion it was immediate, when the round came it hit him in the face. For comfort, I don't think there was any suffering."

In a statement read to the inquest, Private Michael Johnston, a medic with the team, added that when he attended to L/Cpl Tasker, Theo was "clearly distressed". Major Ian Turner, Officer Commanding No 2 Company, 1st Battalion Irish Guards, said he was "confident Liam and his dog were on top of their game", saying he was told they were the "best team" the army had to offer.

"They were extremely brave and enthusiastic about the task and gave us the option to operate more aggressively," he added.Making his verdict, coroner David Ridley said: "My view, beyond reasonable doubt, is the appropriate conclusion to record here is that Liam Tasker was unlawfully killed on active service while serving in Afghanistan."

Record-breaking Theo had been praised by the Ministry of Defence for making 14 finds of hidden bombs and weapons caches in just five months.

Speaking after the inquest, L/Cpl Tasker's mother, Jane Duffy, 52, said the fact her son and Theo had "worked together and died together" brought her some comfort.

She added: "Once it had hit home to me what had happened to Liam, I asked if Theo was OK and they told me Theo was OK, and then it came back to me a short time later that Theo had died as well.To me, I took a lot of comfort in that, as sad as it is that Theo died as well, because then they were together."