AN Oxfordshire mother today heard how her hero son was killed in Afghanistan by the biggest bomb blast his comrade had ever seen.

Lee Mackie sat in Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court at County Hall as an inquest was held into the death of her 21-year-old marine son Jason.

The inquest heard Marine Mackie, from Bampton, was commanding the first Viking armoured vehicle in a five-strong convoy in Basharah, Helmand Province, on May 14 last year, when a huge buried bomb ripped it apart, throwing him 25 metres from the explosion.

The inquest was told he died instantly from blast wounds.

Warrant Officer Matthew Tomlinson, who last week received the Military Cross for his heroism after the blast, was commanding the second vehicle in the convoy.

He said: “The extreme force of the blast was immense.

“It was the biggest I had ever witnessed, or have since witnessed.”

He told Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner he ran 40 metres to find Marine Mackie and colleague Marine Tristan Sykes, who were both in the front cab of the leading Viking vehicle.

WO2 Tomlinson said he came under fire from Taliban fighters following the explosion, and added: “It was a planned ambush by the enemy.”

“(The front cab) was completely destroyed, on fire, all the doors had been blown off and pretty much most of the roof was missing.

“The engine had taken most of the impact and everything was covered in black oil.”

He found Marine Sykes trapped under a metre-and-a-half of heavy armour-plating.

He told the coroner’s court: “There was a lot of blood. He appeared to be severely injured but had his arms and legs.

“He was going in and out of consciousness.

“We had to help him away from the Viking because it was on fire, but we could only pull him away a metre or so because we were still exposed to enemy fire.”

He added: “I could see Marine Mackie was off to our flank, approximately 25 metres from the cab. He had clearly passed away.”

WO2 Tomlinson continued: “Marine Mackie was one of those fantastic marines, he really was. I will always remember him for being such a fantastic marine.”

Military witnesses told the hearing the explosion was most likely caused by a yellow, five-gallon plastic tub packed with about 20kg of explosives and triggered by a rudimentary pressure switch that could be buried by a Taliban team in 15 minutes.

Recording a narrative verdict as he deemed a ruling of unlawful killing was not suitable, Mr Gardiner said although the Viking vehicle was “not perfect”, when new, stronger vehicles were used, insurgents had increased the size of their bombs.

Speaking on behalf of Marine Mackie’s mother Lee, family friend Steve Radband said: “The family just want to thank everybody for today, including the Marines and everyone who helped Jason. They are really pleased that WO2 Tomlinson got a Military Cross for all he tried to do for Jason, and all they wish Marine Sykes all the best in his recovery.

“They now want to move on with their lives.

“They will always remember Jason for being the lovely chap he was, and being his mum’s hero.”

Marine Sykes, who suffered critical injuries, is continuing his recovery and is still serving as a Royal Marine.