The life of a British soldier who died six days after an incident at an army training base 'could have been saved' if a piece of safety equipment was included, with safety workers at the army base saying his death was an "accident waiting to happen".
Staff Sergeant John McKelvie, 51, was involved in an accident at Gandale Camp in Catterick Garrison on January 29, 2019, which saw a Jackal, an open-top military vehicle, overturn.
Sgt McKelvie, who was driving at the time, was airlifted to James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough where he died on February 4, 2019; six days after the vehicle overturned at the army base.
At the time, Sgt McKelvie was undertaking an off-road training course on the vehicle, led by Sgt Craig Dunleavy, who was also in the vehicle and injured during the incident.
This week, an inquest into the 51-year-old's death held at Thirsk Racecourse has heard witnesses including military personnel, medical professionals, and engineers who created the Jackal vehicle give evidence.
On Monday (June 17), the inquest heard from health professionals who had attempted to save the 51-year-old's life.
This included pathologist Dr Jan Lowe, who performed an autopsy at James Cook Hospital mortuary.
He told the inquest that Sgt McKelvie's life could have been saved if a head and neck support device (HANS) had been worn when the incident happened.
Despite it not being normal for soldiers to wear this equipment on the training, Sgt McKelvie's life 'could have' been saved if he was wearing the equipment, which is usually worn by racing drivers.
During the inquest, Dr Lowe said: "If worn, the HANS device could have made it survivable for Sgt McKelvie. The HANS device could have been used and a fatal outcome would have been prevented."
Dr Lowe also highlighted that the soldier's injuries were "worsened" by the fact that Sgt McKelvie's head was "thrown about" in the Jackal vehicle when it overturned.
On Tuesday (June 18), the inquest heard from Martin Robson, the training safety marshal at Catterick Garrison, who ensures training is carried out safely for soldiers at the army base.
During his evidence, Mr Robson, whose job it is to patrol training areas, went through the process soldiers would have to take to book a training area.
According to Mr Robson, safety checks weren't carried out just before the fatal incident - which would normally include a recce of the site by instructors - or correct procedure with instructors failing to check in with range control, who oversee training drills at Catterick Garrison.
The training safety marshal also highlighted that the Jackal shouldn't have been in a light vehicle training area, where the incident occurred, and should have been in a heavy vehicle training area instead - calling the Jackal "unsuitable for the area".
Mr Robson, who wasn't on site when the fatal incident happened in 2019, said: "The Jackal shouldn't have been there - it's too heavy for the surroundings and could end up ripping holes in the ground.
"It's also dangerous for other vehicles - if a motorbike or quadbike is in the light vehicle area - the Jackal driver could easily miss them.
"If I were on site that day - I would have stopped the training exercise because the Jackal is unsuitable for where it was."
As well as noting the safety issues, Mr Robson also highlighted that soldiers booking or travelling to incorrect training sites was a "common occurrence" and that the fatal incident that claimed Sgt McKelvie's life was an "accident waiting to happen".
Elsewhere in the inquest, Professor Steve Austin, engineer director of Supacat Ltd, who designed and developed the Jackal - which was created in the 1990s for military personnel, gave evidence to the inquest.
Since the fatal incident in the Jackal, Professor Austin noted that Supacat had worked with the Ministry of Defence to enhance the vehicles' anti-roll technology.
However, questions about the safety of the vehicles were raised by the legal team of the McKelvie family, who asked Professor Austin whether fatal incidents linked to Jackals had been reported before.
Responding to the concerns, Professor Austin said that, since 2009, there had been 40 incidents of a Jackal rolling, with only three of these having multiple rolls involved - none of which involved fatalities.
Questioned about whether Sgt McKelvie's height of 6ft4in was a factor in the soldier's death, Professor Austin said that the Jackal was geared up towards people measuring six feet and two inches but still protected taller people.
Professor Austin said: "In the aftermath of this tragic incident - we have made several changes to the Jackal - and while risk can't be eliminated completely, it can be reduced.
"I want to offer my condolences to the family and friends of staff Sergeant McKelvie."
Alongside safety concerns, an insight was also given into the training provided to Army instructors.
The inquest heard from Sgt Craig Dunleavy, who was a driving maintenance instructor - and was in the car with Sgt McKelvie when he was killed.
The hearing was told this was only the second time Sgt Dunleavy had led a training course on the Jackal vehicle when the incident happened.
"I'd got lots of experience in driving vehicles of this kind, but not much experience of instructing them," Sgt Dunleavy said.
"When I met Sgt McKlevie, he had a presence - I got on with him, he had a great sense of infectious humour."
Further into the inquest, Sgt Dunleavy described his colleagues' final moments and how Sgt McKlevie said the "brakes had failed" - before the Jackal vehicle flipped down the hill.
Sgt McKelvie's inquest is listed until Friday (June 21).
The inquest continues.
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