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The Ministry of Defence is to accept liability for the death of the first British soldier killed in Iraq, his widow's solicitor has said.
Tank commander Sgt Steve Roberts died nearly two years ago after being ordered to hand over his body armour.
Widow Samantha, 34, from Shipley, West Yorkshire has campaigned to find out the circumstances of Sgt Roberts's death near Basra on 24 March 2003.
He was shot during a riot in Az Zubayr just days after the conflict began.
Mrs Roberts said she was "pleased" the MoD were now prepared to admit liability for her husband's death and she hoped compensation could be agreed without recourse to the courts.
She suggested the decision in her case could "pave the way for other families of service personnel and soldiers to receive compensation for incidents in Iraq that do not happen in the heat of battle".
Detailed inquiry
Mrs Roberts' solicitor, Geraldine McCool, said: "We don't know why the admission has come because we're not privy to these investigations that are going on.
"What I do know is that the Ministry of Defence has looked at this in a great amount of detail.
"They've had people out there, they've been looking over it forensically and they indicated last week that they would be admitting liability on Sam's case."
Ms McCool said defence officials had argued that Cornwall-born Sgt Roberts' death was covered by Combat Immunity, where service personnel are killed in the heat of battle.
"But there were lots of things happening in Iraq that were avoidable, even in a wartime situation," she said.
Tapes
An internal MoD report has established Sgt Roberts would have survived had he been wearing ceramic plates inside his flak jacket.
Originally issued with the plates, he had given them to another soldier as his regiment did not have enough for everyone.
Mrs Roberts subsequently received and apology from Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.
That came after she released tapes of her husband in which he articulated concerns about equipment shortages.
The MoD has confirmed they have written to Mrs Roberts but the spokesman would not say what the letter contained.
Tank commander Sgt Steve Roberts died nearly two years ago after being ordered to hand over his body armour.
Widow Samantha, 34, from Shipley, West Yorkshire has campaigned to find out the circumstances of Sgt Roberts's death near Basra on 24 March 2003.
He was shot during a riot in Az Zubayr just days after the conflict began.
Mrs Roberts said she was "pleased" the MoD were now prepared to admit liability for her husband's death and she hoped compensation could be agreed without recourse to the courts.
She suggested the decision in her case could "pave the way for other families of service personnel and soldiers to receive compensation for incidents in Iraq that do not happen in the heat of battle".
Detailed inquiry
Mrs Roberts' solicitor, Geraldine McCool, said: "We don't know why the admission has come because we're not privy to these investigations that are going on.
"What I do know is that the Ministry of Defence has looked at this in a great amount of detail.
"They've had people out there, they've been looking over it forensically and they indicated last week that they would be admitting liability on Sam's case."
Ms McCool said defence officials had argued that Cornwall-born Sgt Roberts' death was covered by Combat Immunity, where service personnel are killed in the heat of battle.
"But there were lots of things happening in Iraq that were avoidable, even in a wartime situation," she said.
Tapes
An internal MoD report has established Sgt Roberts would have survived had he been wearing ceramic plates inside his flak jacket.
Originally issued with the plates, he had given them to another soldier as his regiment did not have enough for everyone.
Mrs Roberts subsequently received and apology from Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.
That came after she released tapes of her husband in which he articulated concerns about equipment shortages.
The MoD has confirmed they have written to Mrs Roberts but the spokesman would not say what the letter contained.
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