Although not the only fratricide incident during the invasion, the circumstances of the inquest into the death of British lance-corporal of horse Matty Hull – and the subsequent verdict of unlawful killing – led to much media scrutiny in the UK.

Two A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft of the Idaho Air National Guard, 190th Fighter Squadron were completing a two-hour mission; engaging artillery and rocket launchers of Iraq's 6th Armoured Division, dug in 25 miles (40 km) north of Basra.

The aircraft were guided to their targets by US Marine Corps forward air controllers, embedded with British ground units, and flown by a major and a lieutenant colonel on their first operational flight of the invasion.

Trooper Finney then dragged a badly wounded L/Cpl Tudball from the burning vehicle before attempting to recover Hull in the second Scimitar, but being beaten back by exploding munitions and heat.

[citation needed] At the time, the bodies of those service personnel dying overseas were repatriated to the UK via RAF Brize Norton, leading to the responsibility for inquests being under the civilian jurisdiction of the Oxfordshire coroner.

A meeting between Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman and Deputy Head of Mission, David Johnson, was reported on 20 November 2006[8] where assurances were given that concerns of the UK government over the US policy on attendance were to be relayed to Washington.

"[4] It was publicly acknowledged during the inquest that a cockpit video of the head-up display from one of the aircraft existed, which media reports indicated had been shown to the BoI,[11] but not released to Hull's family with the findings.

The video was shown to the coroner in private, although permission to use it in public was refused by the Ministry of Defence, citing international agreements related to the release of classified information, and the US classification of the tape as secret.

This adherence to international protocols led to significant criticism in the British media, leading to a public statement by Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram[12] which reiterated the requirement for US de-classification of the video and highlighting ongoing engagement to achieve that.

British media allege six errors on the part of the aircrew: The audio track includes debate over the identity of the targets and the order, from the FAC, to disengage identifying a likely "blue-on-blue" incident.

A statement released by the Oxfordshire coroner's office later confirmed that Walker was of the view that, being in the public domain, the video could now be presented as evidence without the approval of the US government, and that the inquest would resume on 12 March 2007.

In the course of their research, Elsey, Mair, Smith and Watson developed an alternative version of the transcript, based in part on the detailed information released in the USAF Friendly Fire Investigation Board Report,[25] to make it easier to follow the incident's interactional dynamics.