Captain faces ‘friendly fire’ charge

An army captain is to become the first British serviceman in the Iraq or Afghan wars to face criminal charges over “friendly fire” following the deaths of three British soldiers last year, writes David Leppard.

Prosecutors have decided to charge the officer, a forward air controller, with negligence after three privates from 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment died when an American jet dropped a 550lb bomb on their position. Robert Foster and Aaron McClure, both 19, and John Trumble, 21, were killed when an American F-15 jet dropped a bomb on them in Helmand province in August last year.

In a gun battle with the Taliban, the Anglians called in US air support. Prosecutors allege that the air controller gave the plane the wrong grid references.

Status ‘obscene’

A senior education adviser to David Cameron has labelled the charitable status of independent schools “obscene”. Sir Bob Balchin, who chairs the Tories’ commission on special educational needs, believes tax breaks should not benefit expensive schools, which, he said, should be forced to compete as private businesses.

Recalled to Goa

A mother who is campaigning for justice after the rape and murder of her teenage daughter in Goa has been summoned there to face allegations of neglect, her lawyer said. Fiona MacKeown believes the Goan authorities have attempted to cover up as an accident the death of Scarlett Keeling, who was left in the care of a tour guide before her death.

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