§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 15 October 2001,Official Report, column 947W, how many members of HM armed services have (a) died and (b) been injured as a result of the discharge of firearms on or near military property (i) in Great Britain and (ii) overseas in each of the past eight years; what the results of (1) internal investigations and (2) coroner's inquest for each fatality 940W were; where other soldiers were involved what disciplinary actions were taken; where papers were passed to the CPS, how many weeks were taken to reach a decision on prosecution; and what the result was. [48677]
§ Mr. IngramThe number of members of HM forces who have died as a result of the discharge of firearms in the last eight years is as follows:
Army Navy RAF Year of death UK Overseas UK Overseas UK Overseas Total 1994 8 15 1 1 1 1 27 1995 14 5 —— —— 1 —— 20 1996 9 8 —— —— —— —— 17 1997 4 —— —— —— 1 —— 5 1998 1 —— —— —— —— —— 1 1999 4 3 —— —— —— —— 7 2000 1 8 1 —— —— —— 10 2001 5 4 —— —— —— —— 9 Total 46 43 2 1 3 1 96 Note:
Figures exclude the territorial army, reserves, foreign service personnel and the Gibraltar regiment.
It is not possible to provide details of the exact location of each of these deaths or the results of the related coroner's inquests as this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Nor is it possible to provide details of the number of injuries, owing to the current unreliability of data held as a result of the under reporting of sickness and injuries; this situation is, however, currently being addressed. I am withholding information on the result of internal investigations or any resultant disciplinary action in accordance with Exemption 12 of the Code of Practice of Access to Government Information.