A DEFENCE minister has today apologised for the failings that lead  to the deaths of three SAS candidates on a selection march.

Penny Mordaunt, the minister of state for armed forces, said the Ministry of Defence would study concerns raised by a coroner over the planning and supervision of the full kit march across the  Brecon Beacons in soaring temperatures and the organisation of a rescue operation.

On behalf of the MoD she apologised for the deaths and accepted the failings identified by the coroner.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is examining evidence that emerged during the inquest to establish if any criminal proceedings can be brought against organisers and supervisors of the march.

Once the civil investigations are complete, the MoD intends to initiate its own service inquiry.

 The Royal Military Police will also consider whether any non-criminal service offences had been committed.

Yesterday, Birmingham and Solihull coroner Louise Hunt criticised the organisation and supervision of the march that led to the deaths of  reservists Corporal James Dunsby and Lance Corporals Craig Roberts and Edward Maher.

In reaching a narrative conclusion she identified a “catalogue of very serious mistakes made by many people”  with “systematic failings and neglect” contributed to the deaths.

Those in charge, she said, had failed to undertake proper risk assessments before the 16-mile march or to begin a “dynamic risk assessment” once men went down with heat illness.

There was, she said, no adequate medical or evacuation plan, a general lack of understanding of heat illness, and a “failure to appreciate” that candidates would push themselves to their limit.

She said chances to stop the march were missed when other men suffered heat illness earlier in the day. The first case of heat illness was at 12.14pm, almost two hours before Maher - the first of the three to die - collapsed.

In evidence, there was reference to an MoD guideline document saying an exercise should be called off if just one person suffers heat illness.

Several soldiers who gave evidence said they had no knowledge of the document.

Coroner Hunt  also said the reservists – part-time soldiers – did not do build-up marches and so were not as acclimatised as their regular counterparts.

There was, she said, was a culture of “following what had gone before” without giving any consideration to specific risks” and a “complacent attitude” to risk.

Specific criticism was made of the GPS tracking system serving the march that should have alerted supervisors of the three men stopped.

In evidence, the inquest heard how it took up to two-and-a-half hours to get help to them.

The MoD says changes have already been made to the way similar exercises are conducted, including improvements to preparatory training for reserves and a “thorough review” of the risk assessment process.

A new tracker system has also been implemented to improve candidate monitoring and to enable two-way communication between supervisors and candidates.