Gunner Lee Thornton was on patrol in Al Qurna, just south of Basra, when he was shot through the neck by an insurgent sniper.

The former Palatine High School pupil died two days later as a result of his injuries.

At the inquest into the 22-year-old's death, Blackpool Coroner's Court heard how the day before Gunner Thornton was shot on September 5, 2006, a roadside bomb had killed two other soldiers in the area.

One of the dead men was Gunner Thornton's best friend Stephen Wright, from Leyland.

Despite his grief, Gunner Thornton, who was from Marton, is believed to have volunteered for the dangerous mission the next day.

The young Blackpool soldier – a member of 58 (Eyres) Battery of the 12th Regiment Royal Artillery – had been acting as a "top hatch"
sentry on an armoured vehicle when he was shot.

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Answering questions from Gunner Thornton's family regarding the necessity of the patrol, considering the earlier bomb attack and the reports of snipers in the area, Major Marcus Tivey of 12 Regiment Royal Artillery said: "I was concerned about sending a patrol out the next day.

We felt it was important not to stop the mission we were on because of the incident the previous day. We did think very carefully about it.

"We were using a different route and there was no evidence the insurgent groups were linked together.

"In that area there had been about five shooting incidents in the previous six or seven months only one of which resulted in an injury.

"About a month before a Danish interpreter was shot in the chest and severely injured but not killed. All the others had been reports that people had heard a round pinging off somewhere.

"There wasn't a direct threat of a sniper anymore than anywhere else in Iraq."

The court heard Gunner Thornton's patrol had been offering vital protection and support to a Danish building team in the process of constructing a school when he was shot.

On the day of this patrol the court heard the usual two sentries had been reduced to one as a result of a reported sniper threat.

Solicitor Warren Spencer, acting on behalf of the Thornton family, said: "The family want to know whether, because of the threat of a sniper and the earlier incident, it was necessary at all to have a top cover sentry."

Major Tivey added: "It's a balancing act. If you didn't have someone in that position someone could come up on you from the blind side with an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) and take out the whole vehicle."

Gunner Thornton was taken to an army hospital in Germany where he died two days after being shot.

Coroner Anne Hind recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.