Firing range soldier not to blame

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A soldier who accidentally shot himself in the head on a firing range in Iraq was not to blame for what happened, a coroner has said.

L/Cpl Andrew Craw, 21, died while trying to unblock his machine gun in January 2004, while in Basra.

Oxfordshire assistant deputy coroner Andrew Walker hit out at the "cavalier attitude" taken towards safety rules.

Mr Craw, of Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

The soldier had been training in the use of a new Minimi light machine gun when the incident happened.

Following an inquest into the death, Mr Walker disagreed with suggestions that the death was the result of a "momentary lapse of concentration".

Recording the circumstances of the incident in a narrative verdict, Mr Walker said: "There were, according to the evidence, serious failures in the planning for the Braemar range and on the day that L/Cpl Craw was injured, a cavalier approach to the standing orders put in place to provide for the safety of those using the range."