Explosive charges were routinely stored incorrectly in British tanks and sometimes even balanced on crew members’ laps, an inquest has heard.



The inquest was told that crew members liked to keep the charges close to hand during live firing exercises rather than stowing them away because it helped them open fire more quickly and pass their tests.

Cpls Matthew Hatfield and Darren Neilson, of the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR), died after an explosion in a Challenger 2 tank at Castlemartin firing ranges in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, in June 2017.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cpl Matthew Hatfield, one of the two men killed in the blast. Photograph: Abigail Hatfield/PA

The inquest in Solihull, West Midlands, has been told that the tank was being used to give one of the range officials, Warrant Officer Stuart Lawson, a “guest experience” – a taste of what it was like to be in the vehicle when its gun was fired. Lawson was badly burned in the incident but survived.

One theory being explored during the inquest is that a crucial piece of equipment was not in place, which may have allowed gas to ignite “charge bags” that are loaded into the tank barrel behind a shell and ignited to propel it toward the target.

Cpl Michelle Curran, an armourer with the RTR, said it was common for charges to be kept out of safe storage boxes. She said: “You see it on every single tank you get on whenever it’s on the range, it’s just such a common occurrence.” She said she had heard of tank commanders keeping charges on their laps.

Asked why the practice was commonplace, she said: “I am only going off my own opinion, talking to the guys on the tank park. Some say they feel under pressure not to not only fail their own crew test, but fail their regiment, that they don’t feel they get enough time on the shoots.”

The senior coroner, Louise Hunt, asked whether crews had told her it was quicker to fire the gun with charges already out. Curran replied: “Yes, ma’am.”

Curran said she would tell crews not to store charges incorrectly, but felt “that was enough” and never escalated her concerns to her superiors. Hunt asked her: “So that seems to suggest it was so common you almost accepted it as normal?” The armourer replied: “Yes, ma’am.”

The inquest was told there had been no similar incidents in the tanks since its introduction in 1998, despite thousands of rounds being fired, including during high-tempo combat operations action in Iraq.

On the morning of the incident the tank had been used for a routine crew testing exercise. An army training officer, Alexander Ahtom, told the court it was possible there could have been a “misunderstanding” between the crew that manned the tank in the morning and the one that took it out for the “guest experience” about its readiness to run.

Neilson, 31, from Blackburn, Lancashire, was the tank commander and was thrown from the vehicle by the blast, while Hatfield, 27, from Amesbury, Wiltshire, was loading ammunition. Both were veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

The inquest continues.