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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Stinchcombe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people aged under 18 years have died while on service and in training in each of the armed forces in the last 10 years; and if he will list the causes of death in each case. [205683] Mr. Caplin: 28 regular service personnel under the age of 18 have died between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 2003. Of these six were trained service personnel and 22 were untrained service personnel. A breakdown in the causes of these deaths by service is provided at tables A and B. Table A: Deaths in trained regular service personnel under 18 years of age 1994 to 2003 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Cause of death Naval services Army RAF Total Diseases-related conditions -- -- -- -- Injury or poisoning-related conditions On-duty Falls 1 -- -- 1 Off-duty Poisoning 1 1 -- 2 Road traffic accident 1 1 -- 2 Unknown on/off-duty Suicide/open verdict death1 -- 1 -- 1 All trained deaths 3 3 0 6 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Table B: Deaths in untrained regular service personnel under 18 years of age, 1994 to 2003 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Cause of death Naval services Army RAF Total Diseases-related conditions Cancer -- 1 -- 1 Disease of the circulatory -- 2 -- 2 system Injury or poisoning-related conditions On-Duty Falls -- 1 -- 1 Guns shot wound2 1 1 -- 2 Road traffic accident -- 1 -- 1 Suicide/open verdict death1 -- 2 -- 2 Off-duty Drowning or submersion 1 1 -- 2 Falls -- 1 -- 1 Road traffic accident -- 6 1 7 Unknown on/off-Duty Suicide/open verdict death1 -- 1 -- 1 Information on cause not yet -- 2 -- 2 known All untrained deaths 2 19 1 22 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Suicide and open verdict deaths recorded by a coroner (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) or the Procurator Fiscal (Scotland). 2 Includes one Army death awaiting a coroner verdict.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

205683; 428 c1584W;428 c1582W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Armed forces Death Training Young people

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk