Victim's mother wins first round of Snatch vehicle fight

THE mother of a soldier killed in a roadside attack in Iraq while in a Snatch Land Rover has won the first round of a legal battle for an investigation into the vehicles.

Susan Smith wants to force the government to rethink its decision not to hold a public inquiry into the use of the controversial lightly-armoured vehicles in major conflict situations.

Mrs Smith, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, was given permission to seek a High Court judicial review relating to past use of the vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Mr Justice Mitting refused her leave to challenge a Ministry of Defence decision not to hold an inquiry into present and future deployment of Snatch Land Rovers – a decision he described as "unimpeachable" in the courts.

Mrs Smith's son, Phillip Hewett, 21, a private in the 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment, died on 16 July, 2005 in a roadside bomb attack on three armoured Snatch Land Rovers on patrol in the Al Amarah region in south-east Iraq.

Two other soldiers also died in the incident. Pte Hewett, who was driving, died of his wounds at the scene while being given first aid by members of the patrol.

The Snatch Land Rover was originally designed as a cheap and quick way of transporting troops in Northern Ireland. It has been heavily criticised for its inability to protect against roadside bombs following a series of deaths – about 38 in all – in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr Justice Mitting said that if a full inquiry was eventually held into past deployment, three issues could be investigated:

• Should different equipment, such as the more heavily armoured Cougar Mastiff, have been procured and deployed in 2005 and 2006?

• If so, could the deaths of some or all of the soldiers have been avoided?

• If so, why was that equipment not procured and deployed?

Mrs Smith, whose case is supported by the families of other soldiers killed in similar incidents, said after the ruling: "I am delighted.

"It is only the first stage, but I am just glad that someone is listening."

It is argued that the MoD knew years before the Iraq war began that the Snatch was out of date and there was a gaping hole in its armoured vehicle capability because of a lack of medium-weight armoured vehicles.