AN INQUEST into the death of a 21-year-old Kent soldier killed during a mortar attack in Afghanistan has been adjourned again after the coroner learned the Army was investigating the incident.

The coroner, Andrew Walker, said he did not want to conclude the hearing into L Cpl Luke McCulloch’s death without knowing the military’s own findings.

L/Cpl McCulloch, from Gillingham, died when shrapnel from an enemy mortar round smashed into his head.

The original inquest hearing was adjourned in June this year when questions were raised over the orders given to L Cpl McCulloch and his colleagues over the kit they should have been wearing and where he was sitting.

The court had heard how the young member of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment, was wearing just shorts and flip-flops when he was killed.

Mr Walker, assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire, is examining whether the troops should have been in a bunker and also whether they should have been wearing body armour and helmets.

At Friday’s hearing, he stated he would wait to find out what orders had been in place and whether they have been passed on by senior officers.

He said: “I learned there is to be a Military Police investigation on the matter that caused part of the adjournment.

“There is a police investigation on the matters involving the chain of command. He stated that it was a matter of “deep regret” that he could not proceed to a verdict on Friday, but insisted it was important to learn the Army’s conclusion.

The inquest, being held in Oxford, was adjourned until October.