A British soldier was killed almost instantly by a gunshot wound to the chest after he was gunned down by a rogue member of the Afghan army while playing a football match on Remembrance Day, an inquest has heard.
Captain Walter Barrie, from Penicuik in Midlothian, was playing in a match with members from the Afghan National Army (Ana) and one other British soldier at his base on November 11 last year when he was shot at close range in the Nad-e Ali district of Helmand province, Oxford Coroner’s Court heard.
The gunman, referred to as “S” during the hearing, was dressed in full Ana uniform when he approached the pitch and fired nine shots towards Capt Barrie using an M16 rifle.
As the other soldiers fled, “S” moved towards a welfare tent for British troops and continued firing, the hearing was told.
In a statement read to the court, consultant forensic pathologist Dr Nicholas Hunt said the injury had caused “extremely rapid loss of consciousness and death”.
