Top defence stories today include the presentation of ceremonial leeks by Her Majesty The Queen to mark St David’s Day, the judgement of the Court Martial into an RAF pilot who caused a Voyager aircraft to nosedive more than 4,000ft and the conclusion of the Iraq Fatalities Investigation.
St David’s Day
A number of newspapers including the Daily Telegraph, The Sun and The Scotsman report on the annual St David’s Day ceremony in which Her Majesty The Queen, Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Welsh, presented members of the Regiment with leeks at Lucknow Barracks in Wiltshire yesterday. As well as meeting serving members of the Regiment, cadets and veterans, Her Majesty met the two Regimental goats, Shenkin and Llywelyn.
RAF Court Martial
News that Flight Lieutenant Andrew Townshend has been dismissed from the RAF after pleading guilty at a Court Martial to negligently performing a duty when the Voyager passenger aircraft he was flying plunged 4,400ft in seconds when his camera became jammed in the controls. The Telegraph, Times, Sun, Daily Mail and Scotsman all report that Townshend has been dismissed from the RAF and handed a four month suspended prison sentence for the incident in February 2014 on a flight to Afghanistan.
Iraq Fatalities Investigation
The Sun and Daily Mail both report on the conclusion of Sir George Newman’s Iraq Fatalities Investigation which cleared ten Royal Marines over the death of a suspected Iraqi suicide bomber 13 years ago. The case was pursued through the courts by discredited law firm Public Interest Lawyers despite the fact the Marines had been cleared of any wrongdoing by two previous investigations.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said:
We are grateful to Sir George for his reports, which show no wrongdoing by British Forces
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