Iraq ambush widow may sue company

Mr Davies was working for a London-based security firm

The widow of a Welsh security consultant shot dead in Iraq may sue the company which employed him.

Joanne Davies said she did not know until Friday's inquest in Cardiff that the company had refused to give her husband Julian an armoured vehicle.

Mr Davies, 39, from Barry, south Wales, was shot in the head whilst driving in a convoy in Mosul in June 2004.

Project manager Alex St Matthew Daniel said he had asked for armoured vehicles but was told he could not have them.

He said he had also asked the company, Global Risk Strategies, for protective equipment, including a bullet-resistant coating for the windscreens.

This had not arrived when Julian was shot through the windscreen two months later.

A narrative verdict was recorded into his death. The former SAS reservist Mr Davies died after being airlifted to hospital.

I didn't think the vehicles were suitable - they were hand-me-downs from a previous mission Project Manager Alex St Matthew Daniel

Speaking to BBC Wales after the hearing, his widow said she was considering legal action. Asked how she felt on hearing that better protection might have saved her husband's life, she said: "I feel very sad, and I shall be taking it up with my solicitor as to where we go next."

Nick Arnold, regional director for Global Risk Strategy's Middle East operation, told the inquest the company had a contract with the US government to escort convoys of currency and fuel in Iraq.

He paid tribute to Mr Davies, a former Royal Marine and member of the Territorial Army's SAS regiment, saying: "He was a very great loss and is sadly missed by his colleagues at Global."

Mr St Matthew Daniel told the inquest that the day Mr Davies died had started off as normal in the city of Mosul in the north of Iraq.

"It was a normal violent day but it escalated with such severity - it even took the Americans by surprise who lost five men that day," he said

"This was a well-orchestrated and brutal attack."

Mr Davies' driver Tevita Kunakawa described how the section of men had to change routes after a car bomb went off. It was at that point, he said, they were drawn into a "killing zone".

Julian Davies was leading a convoy in Mosul

"As soon as we entered Mosul we were in the middle of an ambush - a bullet came through the windscreen and went into the left side of Commander Davies head," he told the court.

"There were gunmen firing down on us from 360 degrees."

Mr Kunakawa added: "I tried to press the wound and I heard him saying 'hospital' 'hospital'."

Mr Davies lost consciousness during the 25 minute drive back to the US Army base. He was revived by medical staff but died while being airlifted to hospital.

Cardiff and Vale coroner Mary Hassel heard how Mr Davies had worked for the London-based security firm Global Risk Strategies - helping with post-conflict reconstruction projects - for 10 months.

She then heard that requests had been made to Global Risk Strategies HQ for more protective gear.

Mr St Matthew-Daniel said: "I didn't think the vehicles were suitable - they were hand-me-downs from a previous mission.

You can send people in there, you can pay them danger money, you can get them to sign contracts and they can consent to the risk, but what they can't consent to is inadequate protective equipment Andy Alldred, the Davies family solicitor

"We had asked for armoured vehicles but I was told they were not available.

"I had also asked for ballistic blankets that go over seats and protect against shrapnel, and a coating to strengthen the windscreen.

"My requests were accepted by Global but nothing had arrived."

Coroner Mary Hassell recorded a narrative verdict - an outline of the facts - of death by gunshot.

Andy Alldred, the Davies family solicitor said: "It is perfectly obvious, from the evidence we have heard, that the vehicles being used by Global were perfectly unsuitable for the job, and that, had appropriate protection been provided, either by making proper modifications to the vehicles or by replacing the vehicles with better-equipped vehicles or armoured vehicles - which had been requested before Julian's death - then the bullet which killed him may well have been stopped."

And, he added: "You can send people in there, you can pay them danger money, you can get them to sign contracts and they can consent to the risk, but what they can't consent to is inadequate protective equipment. "

Mr Davies, who lived in Halifax, Yorkshire, with his wife and six-year-old son, had been a former sergeant attached to the 21 SAS reserves at Raglan Barracks, Newport. He had also served with the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment.