Widow wants truth over death of British soldier killed on RAF base

The widow of a British soldier hit by a car driven by a US serviceman on an RAF base in Cyprus has spoken of wanting “truth, justice and accountability” over his death.

Col Sgt Anthony Oxley, who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was on deployment in June 2016 when he was involved in the crash at the RAF Akrotiri base.

The 40 year old, from Ryhill, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, was riding a motorbike when he collided with a Toyota Corolla driven by a US serviceman and he later died at a Cypriot hospital.

His widow Sally said she has been left in the dark about the details of how he died.

Mrs Oxley’s comments come after a ruling in December from a judge, sitting as a coroner in a district court in Nicosia, regarding an inquest into her husband’s death.

The judge indicated his route was impeded or blocked, according to her lawyers.

A 2018 inquest in the UK recorded a narrative verdict, that Oxley’s death had been caused by multiple blunt force injuries to his head, as a result of a road traffic collision.

Cyprus inquest

But Mrs Oxley, who lives in Barnsley, has been pushing for a new inquest in Cyprus to look into witness accounts of his death.

Mrs Oxley described herself as “very pleased with the initial interpretation” of the inquest verdict.

She added: “The proceedings in Nicosia have at last started to establish the truth, justice and accountability about the death of my husband, and the father of our children, which I have been striving for eight years now.”

Mrs Oxley said she will now speak to her lawyers to see what next legal steps should be taken.

KRW Law, which represents Mrs Oxley, said the US Air Force took charge of the investigation and few details were made public, even though Oxley’s death happened within British sovereign territory.

The law firm is waiting for a certified translation of the coroner’s verdict given in the court in Nicosia.

Among the evidence reviewed at that hearing was forensic material and witness statements, including maps of the topography of the collision terrain, the lawyers said.