Controversial cartoons heightened Iraq tension prior to officer's death

Published on Tuesday 6 May 2008 22:06

A BRITISH officer killed by a roadside bomb knew that his troops faced increased danger after the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, the inquest into his death heard yesterday.

Lieutenant Richard Palmer, 27, of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, was leading a joint patrol with the Iraqi army when his vehicle was caught in an explosion near the town of Ad Dayr.

Andrew Walker, the assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, yesterday ruled that Lt Palmer was unlawfully killed by terrorists.

The inquest, sitting at Oxford's Old Assizes, heard that Lt Palmer's platoon had been warned about heightened tensions in the area as a result of anger among some Muslims following the appearance of the cartoons in a Danish newspaper the previous year.

Part of the area they were due to patrol that day came under Danish control, the court heard.

The patrol was only 6km from Camp Campbell when the Snatch Land Rover in which Lt Palmer was travelling was engulfed in a violent blast.

Despite the efforts of his fellow soldiers to save him Lt Palmer, of Ware, Hertfordshire, died of his injuries following the blast on 15 April, 2006.

Warrant Officer Michael Halewood, of the Royal Logistics Corps, investigated the blast and told the court that a Warrior tank could have saved the dead man and his colleagues who were injured.

However, the court heard from Major Angus Benson-Blair that a bridge to the area of the patrol was passable only by Land Rover.

The court also heard that Lt Palmer had been warned about a possible bomb in the area the day before the patrol.

He had taken a Snatch-type Land Rover out of Camp Campbell to investigate the reports but found nothing.

Giving his verdict of unlawful killing, Mr Walker said: "The unhesitating courage and unstinting grit of our troops is a credit to them, their unit, and forms part of a tradition in our armed forces of which we are rightly proud."

He apologised to the family for the delay hearing the inquest saying that it was necessary to deal with "very complex matters" relating to the construction of the bomb.

At the time of Lt Palmer's death, his father, Brigadier John Palmer said his son believed that his troop was "making a difference" in the war-torn country.

Brigadier Palmer added that the "vast majority" of Iraqis were "better off" because of the work of soldiers like his son.

He said: "Life was very difficult for his squadron, for his troop, but he still believed that what they were doing, they were doing it very professionally and that they were little by little making a difference for the majority of the population."

Brigadier Palmer did not wish to speak to reporters following the conclusion of the inquest.

Lt Palmer, who was single, had followed in his father's footsteps when he joined the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, after being commissioned into the regiment in August 2004.

He was made a troop leader in the regiment 'D' squadron, where he was said, by colleagues, to have demonstrated a "natural flair for tank commanding, remaining calm under pressure while dealing with a myriad of complications".

CRASH FAMILIES VIEW NIMROD

THE families of the 14 servicemen killed when a Nimrod spy plane came down in Afghanistan yesterday viewed an identical plane.

The 37-year-old reconnaissance aircraft exploded in a ball of flames just minutes after undergoing air-to-air refuelling near Kandahar on 2 September, 2006, killing all on board.

The inquest began yesterday with a visit by the court, including the families of the victims, to RAF Brize Norton. They were due to see a Nimrod plane with the engine partially stripped down.