Children 'played role in killing of Yorkshire soldier in Afghanistan'

Rifleman Liam Maughan, 18, who had never seen his new son Jaden, died from a devastating brain injury after being shot in the face through the chin-strap of his protective helmet.

The teenage sharpshooter from 3rd Battalion The Rifles was said to have "boy band" good looks and was dubbed "Princess" by other members of his platoon.

He was on the roof of a mud-walled compound with a companion, protecting his platoon, when he was shot in the left cheek.

An inquest in Doncaster heard how children had thrown stones at Rifleman Maughan and his colleague Rifleman Jean de Klerk after they had been hiding in camouflage netting on the roof in darkness.

After daybreak, the children were heard speaking to "unknown" men lurking in alleyways nearby. Rifleman Maughan was probably shot from a building 250 metres away, by a sniper using a high velocity rifle, in the compound near Sangin in Helmand province on March 6 this year.

Rifleman de Klerk told the hearing they were both wearing body armour and helmets as they watched the goings-on in the compound, the scene of a fatal shooting by a sniper of a soldier in their unit four days previously. After mounting a watch for two hours they became aware they could then be seen from the ground.

He said: "Children were throwing stones at us and glaring straight up at us. We were completely visible from the ground."

Men then began moving suspiciously up and down an alleyway. He said: "They were constantly glaring at us and looked at us staring for no reason."

There was a lull in activity below and Rifleman Maughan looked through the telescopic sights of his rifle to view buildings in the distance. Rifleman de Klerk said: "He saw something with his naked eye and then looked out through his scope. Exactly at that moment a loud crack rang out and he was hit."

Corporal James Taylor said men had been seen in an alleyway talking to children. "The children were making their way round to where Liam was. They were going to and from the compound and speaking to males in the alleyways."

And he said a lull in activity in the compound as people vanished was ominous. "It is a big indicator that something is going to happen."

Then, just before Liam Maughan was fatally wounded, a girl looked round a corner and stared at platoon members before disappearing.

Rifleman Gavin Hardman said: "Shortly afterwards I heard the crack of a round."

Pathologist Nicholas Hunt said Rifleman Maughan would have been rendered unconscious instantaneously by the shot and there was nothing that those around him could have done to prevent his death.

Lieutenant Thomas Vila said other soldiers fired from the roof in the direction of the sniper as the injured rifleman was brought down a ladder on a stretcher. "It was a pretty risky time,"

Coroner Ms Nicola Mundy recorded a verdict that the teenager was unlawfully killed in action and told his family: "He was a very, very brave young man."

Afterwards Lt Vila said: "He was a highly popular addition to the platoon and was a friend to everyone.

"He had been carrying out daily patrols for the five months he had been deployed."

The coroner is writing to the Ministry of Defence to ask them to carry out checks on the filling in the body armour worn by Rifleman Maughan – although it did not contribute to his death.