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Soldier sentenced for fatal prank Soldier sentenced for fatal prank
(10 minutes later)
A British soldier has been given a two-year sentence for shooting a colleague in the head while "playing" with a gun on a military base in Iraq in 2007. A British soldier who mistakenly shot his colleague in the head in Iraq in 2007 has been sentenced to two years in an Army correctional facility.
Aaron Kendrick, 20, of Fourth Battalion The Rifles, was found guilty of manslaughter last week. Aaron Kendrick, 20, of Fourth Battalion The Rifles, was found guilty of manslaughter last week after he shot his friend while "playing" with a gun.
He had told the court martial in Wiltshire that he had not realised the weapon was loaded. They were in their bunk room in Basra and Kendrick told the court martial he had not realised the weapon was loaded.
His friend, 23-year-old Fijian Edward Vakabua, died instantly after Kendrick shot him as he lay on his bunk. His friend, 23-year-old Fijian Edward Vakabua, died instantly.
Last Wednesday, a board of five Army officers - the military equivalent of a jury - took two hours to find him guilty.
Kendrick admitted negligently discharging an L96 sniper rifle on 6 July 2007 but denied manslaughter.
The soldier said he was playing with a sniper rifle he was not trained to use, believing it to be broken and unloaded. But he told the hearing at Bulford military court in Wiltshire that he had not pointed the gun at his colleague.
He said he had "squeezed the trigger" and there was a bang.
He told the hearing that he was "heartbroken" by what had happened.