Joe Spencer: Hampshire soldier died after sniper rifle fired live round as he sheltered from rain, inquest hears
Training failures and “inconsistent range management” played a part in a soldier’s death after his own sniper rifle fired a live round, an inquest has concluded.
It has been almost 10 years since the death of Lance Corporal Joe Spencer, after the 24-year-old died on November 1, 2016, following an incident at the Tain Air Weapons Range in the Scottish Highlands.
LCpl Spencer was sheltering from the rain in an Iso shipping container when an L115A3 sniper rifle fired a live round, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard. The soldier, from Hampshire, died from a gunshot wound to the head.
A seven-day inquest was held into LCpl Spencer’s death, at the end of which the jury delivered a narrative conclusion, saying that how the gun went off remained a mystery.
The jurors said: “Inconsistent range management and adherence to safety procedures contributed to the omission of a full unload drill. A live round remained chambered in Joe’s rifle.
“These events led to the unintentional discharge of his weapon. How his gun went off in the Iso could not be ascertained.”
The inquest had been delayed due to investigations by Police Scotland and the Sheriffdom of Grampian, Highland and Islands at Tain, the court heard.
Colour Sergeant Gordon Smart, of 2 Scots The Royal Regiment of Scotland, told the Winchester inquest he was a safety supervisor on the day of the incident. He said L/Cpl Spencer was sheltering from the rain in a shipping container with colleagues as they waited to go back on to the firing range when the incident happened.
CSgt Smart said he heard shouts of “Man down” and ran to the shelter where he found LCpl Spencer’s body lying on the floor with a rifle underneath him.
The witness said one of the soldiers, Christopher Leveridge, told him it was his “fault” because he had bumped into LCpl Spencer.
He said: “He was really white, shaking, just shock. I told him it wasn’t his fault.”
The youngest of three brothers, LCpl Spencer joined the British Army in 2011, and became a member of 3rd Battalion The Rifles. He was deployed abroad on a number of occasions, including operations in Afghanistan where he was seriously wounded in a grenade attack.
Coroner Jason Pegg said: “Having joined the Army he excelled in his training phase, he was awarded the best recruit, he was a very capable young man and a very capable soldier.
“He was a young man doing well in the Army, he was doing well in his personal life.”