Ukraine war: Brit was killed while trying to rescue Ukrainians - inquest

A British father died from head and chest injuries while fighting with the Ukrainian army, an inquest has heard.

Simon Lingard, 38, died at about 12:00 GMT on 7 November 2022 in Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in east Ukraine.

The ex-paratrooper, from Preston, died after being struck by fragments from artillery fire while trying to rescue Ukrainians after fighting broke out.

Following the inquest, his ex-partner Stacey Longworth said he was "an amazing dad and not just a soldier".

"There's a lot of people that don't agree with what Simon did and have voiced opinions but his family are unbelievably proud of him and we backed him every step of the way," she added.

Jackson Lingard, Mr Lingard's son, said: "He was a person outside the military.

"He was a big charity man but he was also loved by everyone, as well as [being] our dad too."

In a statement read by Coroner Darren Salter at Oxford Coroner's Court, Ms Longworth said Mr Lingard joined the British Army when he was 16.

She said he was medically discharged because of a knee injury, then he wanted to re-join when they broke up.

The inquest heard Mr Lingard was recruited by the paratroopers and was in the Army for two or three years before he left and got a job as a mental health support worker.

Mr Lingard set up a charity with two others which helped people who struggled with their mental health and also worked as a landscape gardener while training to become a social worker.

In her statement, Ms Longworth said her ex-partner had been out to Ukraine and then returned to see his children before returning to the war-torn country in August or September 2022.

The Monday before he died he had spoken to his family, she said, and he had said he was going to the front line for the last time and would be back the week after.

Ms Longworth added: "He was loving life in Ukraine and was considering living there after the war, sending videos of him singing with the locals."

At 19:00 on 7 November 2022, Ms Longworth had a call from Mr Lingard's friend in Ukraine who told her he had been killed while fighting.

She was told the friend personally carried Mr Lingard's body back.

The unit's sergeant told her what a "brave man" he was and explained how he had been trying to rescue Ukrainians when he was killed, she added.

Following a post-mortem examination, Mr Lingard's cause of death was given as penetrating fragment injuries to the head and chest, by Dr Russell Delaney, Home Office forensic pathologist.

Dr Delaney said he would have expected Mr Lingard's injuries to have resulted in "instant unconsciousness" and that death "would have followed rapidly as a consequence of brain injury and blood loss from chest injury".

The cause of death given by authorities in Ukraine was damage due to the action of explosion and fragments.

Mr Lingard was identified using dental records on 8 December 2022.

Mr Salter said it was apparent Mr Lingard was a "popular person" by the number of his friends who attended the inquest via an online link.

He added: "What we know is Simon volunteered, he had military experience and Simon volunteered to serve with the Ukrainian army and he did so returning to the UK on certainly one or two occasions before returning again a few months before his death.

"It sounds like he was due to return to the UK shortly but very sadly on this occasion, although we don't have precise details, evidence indicates he was in service with his unit in Bakhmut when he was struck by the fragments from artillery fire which sadly, due to the severity of his injuries, caused his death."

Mr Salter gave a narrative conclusion saying Mr Lingard was "killed whilst on active service with the international legion of the Ukrainian army".

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