Coroner praises battlefield bravery of soldiers

Trooper Ashley Smith, 21, from York, died on June 18 2010 after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) while removing trees near a checkpoint in Helmand Province.

An inquest, at York Coroner’s Court, sitting at New Earswick’s Folk Hall, heard yesterday the first soldier to reach him applied tourniquets to his leg and arm and checked for a pulse and breathing.

Another medic and a doctor assisted, and resuscitation attempts continued throughout the journey by helicopter to hospital at Camp Bastion where he was eventually pronounced dead. Recording a special verdict, Coroner Donald Coverdale said: “These injuries were such that it would not have been possible to survive, not standing the heroic efforts that were made.”