MoD to study drink claims

The men died in an accident in Baghdad

An official investigation into the deaths of two soldiers killed when their vehicle crashed in Iraq will examine claims they had been drinking before the accident.

Major James Stenner - who was 30 years old and from Monmouthshire - and Sergeant Norman Patterson, 28, from Staffordshire, died on New Year's Day when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a concrete barrier.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the investigation into their deaths, which is being carried out by the Royal Military Police, would examine the drinking claims.

Fatal accident

She said: "The investigation is ongoing, but it will encompass anything that could be relevant to the circumstances surrounding their deaths, which will include allegations that they were drinking alcohol before their fatal accident."

Major Stenner - who was married - is among the highest ranking British servicemen to die in Iraq.

Although a Welsh Guards officer, the BBC has learned that he was serving in the SAS, although the MoD has not commented on any involvement with special forces.

Major Stenner's family come from Penallt near Monmouth.

Sergeant Norman Patterson served with the Cheshire Regiment.

Welsh fatalities in the war in Iraq include Lance Bombardier Llywelyn Evans, 24, from Llandudno, north Wales, who was killed on the first day of the conflict last March in a helicopter crash in Kuwait.

Lance Corporal Thomas Keys, 20, from Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, died with five other military policemen in June during an ambush of a police station.

Corporal Dewi Pritchard, 35, a Territorial Army soldier, from Bridgend, died in October when gunmen ambushed the civilian vehicle he was using in Basra.

The MoD spokeswoman said she did not know when the investigation would be concluded.