AN inquest into the death of an SAS soldier has heard how he was killed during a late-night raid on terrorist leaders in Iraq.

Sgt Jonathan Hollingsworth, from Holmer, Hereford, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

The 28-year-old soldier was in a Basra suburb dubbed a no-go area for British troops when he died, today’s inquest in Hereford was told.

The ground commander that night, named only as Soldier H, told the coroner from behind a screen that Sgt Hollingsworth was a team leader there.

He said the operation was aimed at “high value targets” suspected of abducting several security contractors in the city.

“The targets were extremely dangerous,” said Soldier H. “We went to the small flat to try and detain the insurgents.”

Read more on this story in tomorrow's Hereford Times