Widow blames death on equipment

Sergeant Steven Roberts was from the Cornish town of Wadebridge

The widow of a Cornishman killed during the war in Iraq has blamed his death on inadequate army equipment.

Sergeant Steven Roberts was serving with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment near Al Zubayr when he was shot dead in March.

Sergeant Roberts, who was 33 and originally from Wadebridge, was killed as he tried to calm rioting civilians south west of Basra.

His widow Samantha, from Shipley in west Yorkshire, said her husband's gun - a Browning nine-millimetre pistol - jammed as he tried to defend himself against an Iraqi soldier.

He was shot in the chest and abdomen.

Mrs Roberts described his death as "sickening".

A funeral was held for Sergeant Roberts at Egloshayle

"He told me he had been ordered to give up his flak jacket to give it to infantry soldiers and that concerned him," she said.

"It was only recently the Ministry of Defence confirmed that to be the case.

"We asked the question almost straight after he had died and it has taken a couple of months for that information to get to us that that was what happened."

Supply problems

Mrs Roberts' comments follow similar criticism from Sergeant Roberts' mother, Marion Chapman.

The Ministry of Defence has conceded there were supply problems during the conflict.

A spokesman said the ministry was "looking at lessons that could be learnt" as a result of Sergeant Robert's death.

Sergeant Roberts drove into battle flying the Cornish flag of St Piran from his tank.