Soldier killed in crash had SAS hopes

A soldier killed during a Banks Peninsula driver training exercise hoped to try out for the SAS.

Private Sean Dougherty, 29, from Timaru, was preparing for the Special Air Service's tough selection programme when he and another soldier died in an Army Unimog truck crash in August last year.

Coroner Richard McElrea is conducting the inquest into their deaths in the Christchurch District Court.

Former platoon commander Lieutenant Aaron Soppet told the inquest that Private Dougherty, who was driving the Unimog when it slipped off a snow-covered road and rolled 400m down a bank, had "no problem with driving ability".

But, he said, because Private Dougherty was focused on training for SAS selection, he was not always well-motivated in other areas of Army work.

Lieutenant Soppet praised the second victim, passenger Private Daniel Kairua, 22, from Auckland.

"Daniel Kairua was a very good soldier, always very keen, a good learner, well-motivated."

A police investigation into the accident, which also critically injured Private Martyn Berry, found driver error was the most likely cause, but soldier witnesses told the inquest they saw the road collapse.

Lawyers for Banks Peninsula District Council told the inquest Private Dougherty was driving too close to the edge of the snow-covered road.

But Canterbury University engineering Professor Alan Nicholas, who appeared as an expert witness for the Army, said he believed the road shoulder should have withstood the Unimog's 7-tonne weight.

The inquest concluded yesterday, but Mr Mr McElrea can still receive written submissions and counter-submissions before delivering his findings.

- NZPA