The five soldiers had been mentoring and living with the Afghan police A coroner has said the UK failed in its duty to five British soldiers who were shot and killed by a rogue Afghan policeman in 2009.
The gunman, who has been named only as Gulbuddin, fled a checkpoint in Helmand province’s Nad Ali region afterwards.
David Ridley, the Coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, said: “The state had failed in its role to avoid risk”.
He recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
He said the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) should have been able to remove Afghan officers, like Gulbuddin, who raise concerns.
The coroner said Warrant Officer Darren Chat – one of those who died – did not have such a power and Mr Ridley said the state had failed in its role.
Several of the victims’ families expressed amazement their loved ones had been put in harm’s way.
Gulbuddin escaped afterwards and has never been brought to justice.
The inquest heard the attack could have been linked to a “blood feud” between an Afghan National Police (ANP) commander and the Taliban.
It was suggested Gulbuddin could have been a rogue officer acting on behalf of the Taliban.
Three of the soldiers killed were Grenadier Guards – Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, 40, Sergeant Matthew Telford, 37 and Guardsman Jimmy Major, 18.
The other two killed were Royal Military Police – Corporal Steven Boote, 22 and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith, 24.
Six British soldiers and two Afghan policemen were wounded in the attack.
The coroner said it was known there were problems with the ANP Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Walker had described them as “rotten to the core”.
He said WO Chant had raised concerns about Gulbuddin’s behaviour, discipline and drug taking before the attack.
Mr Ridley said WO Chant discussed these issues with the ANP commander before the attack and was told they would be addressed.
The coroner says WO Chant was highly regarded and if he had not been killed he would have been considered for the top sergeant major position in the British Army at Sandhurst.
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