Further tests are to be carried out on the body of a soldier who collapsed and died during a training exercise on the hottest day of the year, close to the spot where three SAS candidates died from heat illness during an SAS selection exercise three years ago.
Dyfed-Powys police said they were treating the death of Cpl Joshua Hoole, 26, who was described as “superfit” by his family, as unexplained. A postmortem has been carried out, but police said more tests were needed and that the results would not be available until late September. This could delay Hoole’s funeral.
A spokeswoman for the force said: “Further results … are expected in late September. Police will evaluate the results, along with all other information available through the investigation. An inquest will not be opened at this time.”
The case has raised concerns about the military’s measures to keep personnel safe in extreme heat. Relatives of Hoole, from Ecclefechan, Scotland, have said they are concerned that he was training in full combat gear on a very hot day.
Hoole, a member of the Rifles regiment, was one of about 20 soldiers who took part in an eight-mile march on lanes around the school of infantry in Brecon, Mid Wales, last Tuesday. They left at 7am, by which time the temperature in the area was 17.6C (64F). It had risen to 22.3C when they returned at 9am.
Each soldier was dressed in full combat clothing and boots and carrying a 25kg rucksack, but the march was not seen as difficult one and did not involve severe climbs. The soldiers carried water and there were water stations along the route.
The exercise was organised by Hoole’s regiment to make sure that he and other candidates were fit enough to take part in a demanding platoon sergeants’ battle course that is run by the school of infantry. An army source compared the march to an MOT: an annual test to ensure that soldiers had a basic level of fitness, much less gruelling than the SAS test.
Hoole and his colleagues completed the march as a squad within the stipulated two hours. On their return to the school of infantry, Hoole collapsed. Civilian paramedics were called shortly before 9am, but could not save him.
The Ministry of Defence has refused to speculate about the cause of death, and inquiries have been launched by the military, the civilian police, and health and safety officials.
Defence chiefs were strongly criticised by a coroner over the SAS deaths in July 2013 and the MoD was subject to a “crown censure”, the stiffest penalty it can be given.
