Tragic war veteran 'traumatised by horror of little boy's death'

The family of a Chorley veteran who served in Afghanistan have criticised the Armed Forces for failing soldiers who have witnessed the horror of war.

Sam Paul Newby's service in Afghanistan left him struggling to cope with what he had seen including one incident in which he was ordered to drive through a wall which saw him unwittingly kill a young child. The 35-year-old, who was born in Preston, was found dead at his flat in Chorley last September after taking his own life with his mum Janice telling a coroner her son had "changed" since returning from the frontline.

An inquest held today (February 2) at Preston Coroner's Court heard how Sam, who served in the British Army as a Guardsman with the Scots Guards, had been overcome with guilt at seeing his little boy grow up knowing that he had been involved in the death of an Afghan boy.

"He came home from Afghanistan and he was totally different," Sam's mum told Area Coroner Richard Taylor. "He couldn't stand the bangs on Bonfire Night. He wasn't the same.

"Soldiers from his squadron came to his wake and said it was the seventh funeral they had been to that year. Something needs to be done because there are too many young men dying by their own hand like this.

"We would find him up in the middle of the night drinking and crying. I know what was wrong with my son and I know why he killed himself. This country is failing veterans and we shouldn't have even gone to war.

"Sam was a good person with a good soul. He is a symptom of a system that is broken."

Sam's brother Chris, who also attended the inquest, said that while his brother agreed with the need to go to war in Afghanistan he struggled to overcome the horror of what he had seen.

"He said he was sent on an operation at dawn, there was a compound where a senior Taliban person was supposed to be, and Sam was ordered to drive through the wall," Chris said. "Sam carried out his orders expecting an open courtyard but it was a lean-to with a family inside with a young child.

"It's my belief that after he had his little lad his guilt overcome him. He told me that being in conflict didn't bother him as far as he was concerned, the Taliban had volunteered to go to war, but it was the collateral damage that bothered him."

Sam's mum Janice broke down in tears as she added: "As Sam's son grew up we could see his drinking get worse and worse and worse because he was feeling so very guilty. I am not the first mum to sit here saying this and I won't be the last."

The inquest heard that Sam, who had two brothers and a sister, had been found dead in his flat in Southport Road on September 10 last year after friends raised the alarm. It had been almost six hours since he had last been seen.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Inspector Abigail Finch-Hall of Lancashire Constabulary said an officer had reviewed CCTV footage which showed that nobody other than Sam had entered his flat between 3.12pm and 8.55pm when he was found dead.

The coroner returned a conclusion of suicide and told Sam's family: "I can never answer the question of why and I can never say what is going through somebody's mind at the time. I can never say what the trigger might have been."

Tragic Chorley war veteran was traumatised by horror of little boy's death the frontline - and then 'failed by the Army'

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