Unlawful killing verdict on five British troops shot by rogue Afghan policeman 20.05.11
4Five British soldiers shot dead by a rogue Afghan policeman were unlawfully killed, the coroner at their inquest ruled today. They were shot without warning by an officer they had been living alongside at an Afghan National Police checkpoint in Nad-e-Ali in Helmand Province on November 3, 2009. Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37, and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18, from the Grenadier Guards, died alongside Corporal Steven Boote, 22, and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24, from the Royal Military Police. The inquest heard how the soldiers were sat outside in the courtyard of Checkpoint Blue 25, chatting and relaxing, having returned earlier that day from a patrol. Their killer, a regular cannabis smoker named only as Gulbuddin, walked up to the soldiers and without warning shot them with an AK47. As the troops were off-duty none were wearing body armour, helmets or carrying side arms. Before anyone could respond Gulbuddin had fled. The Taliban claimed responsibility but military sources have previously suggested the attack was probably unconnected to the insurgents.