An inquest to determine the circumstances around the death of a soldier at a Pembrokeshire firing range will not be able to proceed until an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has been completed.

Sergeant Gavin Hillier, 35, of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, died at the Castlemartin range on March 4, 2021.

His wife Karyn and sons Declan and Connor described themselves as ‘heartbroken’ following his death.

Western Telegraph: Sergeant Gavin Hillier was was fatally injured during a training exercise at the Castlemartin

At a pre inquest hearing (PIH) today, Tuesday, March 19, Pembrokeshire Coroner, Paul Bennett heard that an investigation by the HSE was not much further along than it had been at the first PIH in the Autumn of last year.

Rhys Hughes for the HSE said that he had had ‘logistical issues in getting hold of the witnesses’ that he needed to speak to.

He said that these issues should be resolved after Easter and that he should be able to speak to witnesses in April. He said that the issues had been caused by the fact that some witnesses were on active service and not readily available.

Mr Hughes added that it would probably take around six months after the witness interviews for the HSE investigation to be completed.

The coroner asked that ‘all due efforts be made’ to facilitate the witnesses giving their accounts to the HSE investigation.

Until the HSE investigation is concluded it will not be possible for the inquest, or parts of the pre inquest process to get underway, he said.

Mr Bennett said that the inquest, when it is held, will be a Middleton inquest where Article 2 is engaged.

This type of hearing is appropriate where there is the potential that the State or its agents have 'failed to protect the deceased against a human threat or other risk'.

A service inquiry report by the Defence Safety Authority published in August 2022 stated that Sgt Hillier was likely to have been mistaken for a firing target by a short-sighted colleague who was not wearing corrective lenses at the time.

The shooter, referred to in an official and partly redacted report as Guardsman 1, had been prescribed corrective lenses but was not wearing them at the time.

The coroner said that, at present, he would retain the anonymity of Guardsman 1, but that at some point in the pre-inquest process the correct representations would need to be made to determine whether that anonymity remained.

Mr Bennett added that he had found a previous visit to Castlemartin Range useful for the ‘purposes of understanding the topography and geography.

He suggested that a further visit in the evening, when the light conditions were similar to those of March 4, 2021, be arranged.

This was agreed to by all present and left with John Goss, counsel for the MoD to take further.

Another pre inquest hearing will take part in the autumn of this year, possibly on the same day as the evening site visit.