A FATHER who has spent eight years battling for justice after his soldier son collapsed and died during a fitness test wrongly held in hot weather has presented a petition at Downing Street.
Phillip Hoole, 62, wants to see a new independent regulatory body created to ensure good governance is applied at all government organisations – with the power to prosecute organisations falling short.
He said the change is needed after a raft of scandals including Tainted Blood, the Post Office Horizon system and the Metropolitan Police‘s behaviour after the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence – as well as his own case.
Mr Hoole, whose son, Corporal Joshua Hoole, died at the age of 26 eight years ago, presented the petition yesterday as he revealed he has been in discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service about what would be a landmark corporate manslaughter case against the Ministry of Defence.
Phillip Hoole, 62, presenting his petition at Downing Street after the death of his son
As a government department, the MoD would normally have Crown Immunity from prosecution but the CPS is investigating whether there are certain limits to the immunity.
In a letter to Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, he said: ‘My experience – that of a grieving father who had to take on the Goliath that is the MoD – shows there is a desperate need for change.
‘It cannot be right that injustices must initially be investigated by the families and individuals affected, battling against the odds.’
Mr Hoole, a retired Sergeant Major with First Battalion Devonshire and Dorset Regiment who served in Northern Ireland and Iraq, said: ‘We urgently need such a body which can police all public organisations and has the power to sanction, remove or even prosecute senior executives and organisations who fall short.
‘Investigations and justice – when appropriate – should happen after the incident and not decades later, through pressure from the next of kin or those wronged.’
Corporal Joshua Hoole died aged 26 during a fitness test wrongly held during hot weather
Although Mr Hoole is still collecting signatures for his petition online, he said: ‘I’m handing it in now because I want to see if the government will be proactive and do something, as opposing to waiting for 100,000 signatures (the minimum support needed to secure a parliamentary debate).’
Cpl Hoole died while taking part in an eight-mile fitness test in the Brecon Beacons, carrying 25kg of weight, on the morning of the hottest day of 2016.
The temperature was already above 20C (68F) when the test began at 7am.
The location was close to where three soldiers died after suffering heat exhaustion three years earlier on a selection test for the SAS.
An initial Service Inquiry report blamed the tragedy on Cpl Hoole having an undiagnosed heart defect, triggering Sudden Adult Death Syndrome. It effectively ruled out any link to the heat.
But, at an inquest, Coroner Louise Hunt – who also led the inquest into the SAS deaths, said Cpl Hoole’s death was due to ‘high cardiovascular workload due to exercise and heat stress’.
The coroner highlighted how Army staff who ran the march in which Cpl Hoole died failed to use a trusted risk assessment system which predicts safe temperature limits.
Documentation in the petition which Mr Hoole presented at Number Ten Downing Street
Official guidance also states annual fitness tests – the type of march Cpl Hoole was on – should not go ahead in temperatures above 20C (68F).
Ms Hunt said: ‘The AFT should not have gone ahead… Josh would not have died when he did, had the AFT not gone ahead.’
And last December, Mr Hoole revealed he had received an email from a senior government lawyer admitting to ‘a catalogue of failures’ on the day his son died.
The lawyer, an adviser to the Defence Secretary, also said the failings ‘amounted to a failure to ensure a safe system of training and which put soldiers at risk of injury from heat illness’ and added: ‘In terms of legal liability, we accept that the Secretary of State for Defence would be found liable if you were to bring a claim for damages for negligence and breach of your son’s right to life.’
Mr Hoole highlighted how he believes unsafe practises are continuing within the armed forces and said its culture needs to change to prioritise being a ‘safe organisation’.
He pointed to the MoD’s most recent Health and Safety Report, published last July 2023, which revealed 25,103 health and safety incidents, 36 per cent classed as a ‘dangerous occurrence’ or ‘near-miss’, which could cause death or injury.
Mr Hoole, of Carlisle, who has spent the last eight years investigating his son’s death, accused officials of ‘sweeping his death under the carpet’.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, he said: ‘The MoD showed no loyalty, integrity or moral courage to do the right thing, something that it expects its soldiers to do, but it didn’t grant my son the same respect.’
He added: ‘I want the MoD to be held accountable in a criminal court.’
Recalling a meeting with a senior Crown Prosecution Service representative in March, he said: ‘They said I should never have had to investigate my son’s death as I have and that I should have been consulted back in 2016 at the time of the original investigation.’
Dyfed Powys Police has confirmed an investigation remains ongoing.
Mr Hoole wants a regulatory body for government organisations with the power to prosecute
Mr Hoole’s petition can be found at change.org, by searching for ‘Magna Carta (1215) an overdue amendment: Justice for people by the people’.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said its lawyers have met with Mr Hoole and are liaising with police but could not comment further.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts and sympathies remain with Corporal Joshua Hoole’s family and friends.
‘The coroner’s inquest identified an underlying cardiac susceptibility as being the causal factor in Joshua’s death. However, we recognise that heat combined with strenuous exercise were significant contributory factors.
‘This tragic event was rigorously investigated by a Service Inquiry. Lessons and recommendations were identified, and we’ve made a number of changes and improvements to minimise risks to personnel.’
The MoD said it has worked with serving personnel and the families of soldiers who have been affected by heat injuries and ‘introduced comprehensive mandatory training for all service personnel (and) new heat illness protocols’.
Officials said efforts were also underway to develop new technology such as wearable temperature and heart rate monitoring equipment.
