'Lessons to be learned' from death

A CORONER investigating the death of an Edinburgh soldier in Afghanistan said there were "lessons to be learned" about intelligence-sharing among troops on the ground.

Coroner Rob Turnbull told the inquest yesterday at Richmond Town Hall, North Yorkshire, that information concerning the compound in which Serjeant Phillip Scott, 30, of Edinburgh-based 3rd Battalion The Rifles, was killed by an explosion may have been of assistance before his platoon entered it.

Sjt Scott was killed by an improvised explosive device near Sangin in Helmand Province on 5 November 2009.

He lived in Edinburgh with his wife, Ellen, who was present at the inquest, and their children Ellie and Michael.

On the day of his death Sjt Scott was acting as Section Commander of section two of his platoon, with orders to find and identify suitable compounds for future use.

It was in one of these compounds, which had been swept by four metal detectors, that the explosion happened.

It later emerged that members of 2 Rifles had been in the area on a previous occasion and had experienced a similar incident but the information had not been circulated.