Iranian bomb killed Otley soldier in Iraq (From Wharfedale Observer)

Iranian bomb killed Otley soldier in Iraq

6:22pm Tuesday 11th September 2007 in Local news By Newsdesk

An Iranian bomb was used by insurgents in Iraq to kill an Otley soldier, an inquest has heard.

A fragment from the high-velocity 60mm mortar round hit married father-of-two Corporal Matthew Cornish, 29, in the head at close range.

Cpl Cornish, of 1st Battalion The Light Infantry, died three hours after the attack on a coalition base at the old state buildings in Basra City early on August 1 last year.

He had been standing a few feet away from the blast, his inquest at Oxford's Old Assizes was told yesterday. Andrew Walker, assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, gave the cause of death as shrapnel wounds to the head and recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

He described the incident as a terrorist act.