A COURT in Oxford ruled today that five British armed forces personnel were unlawfully killed when their helicopter was shot down in Iraq.

RAF Benson-based Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, 32, became the first British servicewoman to die in the conflict when the Lynx aircraft in which she was a passenger crashed on to an empty building in Basra after a missile strike in May 2006.

The pilot, Captain David Dobson, 27, of the Army Air Corps, also died, along with Wing Commander John Coxen, 46, father-of-three Lieutenant, who was also based at Benson, Commander Darren Chapman, 40, of 847 Naval Air Squadron, and Marine Paul Collins, 21, then serving with 847 Naval Air Squadron.

Recording his verdicts, Andrew Walker, Assistant Deputy Coroner for Oxfordshire, said the firing of the ground-to-air missile which killed the five "amounted to a terrorist act".

The inquest heard how the crew of the Lynx were aware of intelligence reports at the time that insurgents were plotting to shoot down British aircraft in Basra.

Private Stuart Drummond, who witnessed the incident from the ground, told the hearing: "I saw a yellow object going towards the helicopter. I thought it was a missile. The helicopter exploded. It was engulfed in flames and went down.

"Just before it was hit, the helicopter lifted as though it was trying to move out of the way. It sort of jerked."

The other three servicemen were based at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset.Wing Commander John Coxen Regularly throughout the four-day inquest, the coroner, for security reasons stipulated by the Ministry of Defence, asked family members toeave the court so he could hear evidence relating to the aircraft's defence systems in private.

Outside Oxford Coroner's Court, Mike Collins, father of Marine Paul Collins, said: "I would like to pay tribute to the fine, fine people who lost their lives serving their country that day."

Asked whether he objected to being excluded from almost half of the inquest, he said: "No, because I understand that there are issues of secrecy that need to be observed to protect our armed forces."