'Nato gun' probably killed para

Cpl Budd saved seven colleagues in the firefight with the Taleban

A soldier awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery in Afghanistan was probably killed by Nato-calibre ammunition, an inquest has heard.

Paratrooper Bryan Budd, 29, of Ripon, North Yorks, led a British assault on a Taleban position in Helmand in 2006.

He was most likely killed by a Nato weapon, a ballistics expert said.

Coroner Andrew Walker, sitting in Oxford, recorded a narrative verdict, saying Cpl Budd had died in cross-fire between UK troops and Taleban fighters.

The Victoria Cross is Britain's highest accolade for courage in battle.

Cpl Budd was the first soldier to receive it posthumously since the Falklands War in 1982 - he died saving seven comrades during a fierce firefight in Sangin, Helmand Province, in August 2006.

His widow Lorena said he "laid down his life in an act of supreme valour".

Lone assault

During the assault Cpl Budd, from the 3rd Battalion the Parachute Regiment, had carried on alone despite being wounded, after heavy fire forced his colleagues to take cover.

His body was later found surrounded by those of three Taleban fighters. He died from a shot to the abdomen, and it remains unclear as to which direction the fatal shot came from.

Ballistics expert Ed Wallace told the inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court that tests on the bullet fragments which killed Cpl Budd showed they were from 5.56 calibre ammunition, which is used in rifles and machine guns issued to British troops.

But he said that further tests on the 24 weapons used by Cpl Budd's comrades had failed to establish if any of them had fired the fatal shot.

After hearing the evidence Mr Walker, assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, asked: "In summary, I can be satisfied on the balance of probability that this was a Nato 5.56 projectile fired from a Nato weapon?"

I'll make sure the girls grow up knowing what a courageous man he was Lorena Budd, widow Widow collects soldier's VC

Mr Wallace replied: "Yes, that's the most likely cause."

Mr Walker said: "Cpl Budd fell when caught in the cross-fire."

Mr Walker said Cpl Budd and his colleagues were a credit to their unit and the armed forces as a whole.

"When one of their number was injured, without a thought for their safety, they rescued him," Mr Walker said.

"When Cpl Budd fell, they wouldn't rest until they could find and bring him home."

'Ultimate sacrifice'

A month before he died, Cpl Budd led another attack on two gunmen on the roof of a building to allow a wounded colleague to be evacuated for life-saving treatment.

His widow accepted the VC for his two acts of "exceptional valour" from the Queen in December 2006.

Speaking after the inquest verdict, Mrs Budd said she was "enormously proud" of her husband.

"By making the ultimate sacrifice, his conspicuous gallantry reflected the highest traditions of the Parachute Regiment," she said.

"He did so doing the job he loved and serving in the regiment, and with his fellow Paratroopers, that meant so much to him."

Cpl Budd left two daughters, Isabelle, two, and Imogen, who was born shortly after his death.

Mrs Budd said: "He was a very important person in all our lives and he always will be.

"I'll make sure the girls grow up knowing what a courageous man he was."