Scottish bomb disposal expert was shot in the head, inquest hears

A SCOTTISH bomb disposal expert was shot dead by insurgent gunfire in Afghanistan when his unit came under fire, an inquest heard.

Corporal Jamie Kirkpatrick, 32, from Edinburgh, was on operations in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province when he was shot in the head by the single high-velocity round on 27 June last year.

Cpl Kirkpatrick, known to his friends as "KP", was from the 101 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, and attached to the Joint Force Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group at the time of his death. The hearing in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, was told the area he died in was considered high risk with a large number of insurgents.

Cpl Kirkpatrick's job was to help clear the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and he was taking part in an operation to set up a new checkpoint.

Bomb disposal expert Sergeant Scott Docherty, from Cpl Kirkpatrick's unit, said that they had left a compound at 6:25pm to return to base when shortly after everyone heard the "crack" of the rifle shot. "I said to everyone to get in the ditch as it offered better cover than laying in the road. As we moved into the ditch, KP did not move into the ditch," he said.

Four comrades managed to get Cpl Kirkpatrick into cover and then back to the compound, while other shots were directed towards them and the unit returned fire.

He was then evacuated by a Viking armoured vehicle for treatment, but it was not needed, the hearing was told.

Sgt Docherty added that Cpl Kirkpatrick was the best "No 2" he had ever had: "He was perfect," he told the inquest.

Wiltshire and Swindon coroner David Ridley recorded a verdict of unlawful killing while on active service.