MoD receives Crown Censure following death of Private Jethro Watson-Pickering
HSE reported on 3 November 2026 that the Ministry of Defence had accepted a Crown Censure following the death of Private Jethro Watson-Pickering during a 2021 training exercise. Inspectors identified failures in risk assessment, safe working arrangements, instruction and training. A Crown Censure…
The Ministry of Defence has received a Crown Censure following the death of Private Jethro Watson-Pickering during a military training exercise on Salisbury Plain. Reporting the outcome on 3 November 2026, the Health and Safety Executive said its investigation had identified failings in risk assessment, instructions and training, including the absence of a safe system of work for driving the armoured vehicle involved.
Private Watson-Pickering was 23 when he died on 15 October 2021. The enforcement announcement therefore concerns a death five years earlier, not an incident occurring during the November 2026 reporting week. HSE said that, by accepting the Crown Censure, the MoD admitted breaching its duty under section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
What happened during the exercise
Private Watson-Pickering served with the 1st Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. He was participating in Exercise Iron Storm at the Army’s Salisbury Plain training area in Wiltshire. His role during the exercise involved driving an armoured vehicle and acting as the enemy for another Army regiment.
HSE describes the vehicle as a Scimitar-variant Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), or CVR(T), armoured fighting vehicle. At around 11.50am on 15 October 2021, the vehicle was escaping an exercise attack when its gun barrel, which protruded beyond the side of the vehicle, struck a tree.