Mother of Special Boat Service recruit whose death was caused by serious safety failings slams defence chiefs
- Royal Marine Benjamin McQueen, 26, went missing during underwater training
- Tracking devices were not used and it took divers 40 minutes to locate his body
The mother of a Special Boat Service recruit whose death was caused by serious safety failings hit out at defence chiefs yesterday.
Royal Marine Benjamin McQueen, 26, had already passed UK Special Forces selection and was just days from completing specialist training to join a SBS squadron.
He was taking part in a simulation of an amphibious assault by the elite unit, involving a lengthy underwater approach to the target, when he went missing.
Tracking devices, which could have located Mr McQueen, were not used because the exercise was supposed to be as realistic as possible.
The lack of this kit meant it took standby divers 40 minutes to locate him on the seabed at Portland harbour, Dorset, and bring him to the surface.
Royal Marine Benjamin McQueen (pictured), 26, had already passed UK Special Forces selection and was just days from completing specialist training to join a SBS squadron
His mother Kathy McQueen, from Southampton, said her son’s life was ‘cut short because he was failed by the very organisation in which he put his trust’.
She is convinced her son’s death on November 14, 2018, was preventable. An inquest into the tragedy was held in secret for national security reasons.
Last night, a Special Forces source said: ‘Ben was literally just a few days from completing continuation training. The MOD should be taken to the cleaners for being so shady about the circumstances surrounding his death.’
The exercise used equipment and tactics which SBS divers would rely upon in on operational scenario. But insufficient consideration was given to safety, according to the coroner Sir Ernest Ryder.
Failures included a lack of instruction ahead of the dive, inadequate consideration of the risk of the loss of a diver, and a lack of training to prepare those participating in it.
Mr McQueen, whose brother Sam played football for England Under-21 and Southampton, joined the Royal Marines in 2009.
In September 2020 the Health a Safety Executive (HSE) issued a Crown Censure over the death.
The censure is a record that the HSE found evidence which would have warranted a prosecution if the Ministry of Defence was not exempt.
Sebastian Del Monte, of law firm Hodge Jones and Allen, who acted for the SBS recruit’s family, said: ‘It is clear from the coroner’s conclusions that Ben’s death was preventable and is symptomatic of the Ministry of Defence’s opaqueness, which led to overconfidence surrounding safety and training processes.
‘It is the family’s view that this complacency and lack of oversight caused the tragic death of a young man serving his country.
‘Due to the lack of transparency and the need for a secure inquest the family has waited nearly five years to uncover what happened to their son.
‘They fought tirelessly and with dignity to learn the truth. They did so to ensure that other families do not have to go through the same torturous process.’
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