Former Somerset soldier's 'main motivation was to help people' as inquest into his death continues
43-year-old Stuart Coburn from Shepton Mallet was killed while he was working for a mine clearance company in 2016
Last updated 9th Jun 2024
An inquest has heard a former soldier from Shepton Mallet was 'a true believer that what he did was right'.
It's happening this week at Somerset Coroner's Court, after 43-year-old Stuart Coburn was killed by a bomb while working for a mine clearance company in Ramadi in August 2016 - and the hearing runs until Tuesday.
He was killed while trying to defuse a large improvised explosive device (IED) in Iraq.
Somerset Coroner's Court heard Mr Coburn, a former Army sergeant major, was attempting to neutralise the bomb inside a large skip when it exploded.
The device's radio control trigger was set off by a mobile phone and a dead man's switch.
The inquest heard from Robin Simon, who was working in Iraq teaching counter-IED techniques to the local military.
In a written statement, Mr Simon, who served in the Army with the Royal Engineers, said: "Stu was one of the nicest blokes that you could meet. He was a true believer that what he did was right and a lot of his main motivation was to help people.
"Stu and I used to talk openly afterwards over a brew. His passion for helping people and his love for the cause used to be a big part of our conversations."
The court heard the device was found in a large skip a month earlier, after being left there by Deash, which is also known as the so-called Islamic State.
It had been left there after the Daesh were being driven from the Ramadi area by Iraqi security forces.
The skip had been cordoned off and left but as more and more people returned to their homes in Ramadi following the withdrawal of Daesh, the decision was taken to disable the device.
Mr Simon said: "In my opinion the device has been stuck there for quite a long time, there were lots of security forces in and around the Ramadi area at that time, so it would have been unlikely that someone was sat watching from a mile away.
"If there had been someone watching, it would have been initiated long before Stu had the accident.
"The device initially was not a threat because there was no one in the city but as things progressed with more people coming back it became a threat.
"The last thing we want is for returning people to be blown up.
"I can't remember the time exactly, but I got a phone call saying there's been an accident.
"My reaction was, 'Oh my god is everyone all right?' To which I got, 'He's gone'. I was like, 'What do you mean he's gone?' I was standing in disbelief."
Todd Glessner has also been heard at the inquest - he was with Mr Coburn when the device was discovered.
It was found close to a residential area, and it was heard in the Coroner's Court - via a written statement - that they used a hook and line kit to check out the device, with the kit removing the metal sheeting from the skip.
Upon unveiling the device, they then discovered the device was made from five cylinders of propane gas - linked together with a detonation cord and what could have been a concealed pressure switch.
Mr Glessner said they came to that conclusion because there was a piece of cloth on top of one of the cylinders.
He added: "At this point we came across the fact that it was a radio controlled device,
"Stu used his camera and took some photos to act as a kind of mirror to see behind the device and when we looked at the pictures, it was clear that the green wire went into the cloth.
"We didn't investigate the cloth any further."
Mr Glessner said the device was reported back to their superiors.
He added: "I certainly didn't know about Stu going back there on August 22, but we never had any conversation about him returning.
"I was on the ground about a mile away from where Stu was when he was killed. I heard the detonation go off and I started to see smoke.
"I then heard on the radio some sporadic chatter and we knew something had happened and we got a call to say get out.
"We drove to the hospital in convoy with the other teams and it was later confirmed that it was Stu who had been killed."
The inquest continues and is set to run until next Tuesday (March 28).