An ambulance service has been criticised after delays dispatching paramedics to a fit and healthy young soldier who died after collapsing during a training exercise at the Catterick Garrison army base, an inquest has concluded.

Private Josh Kennington, 18, died at Darlington Memorial Hospital on November 24, 2022, six days after collapsing during a physical exercise art the army base.

He had just finished a three-kilometre march with an 11kg pack and was chatting with friends when he suddenly fell forward and hit his head on the ground.

Medically-trained army colleagues performed CPR and used a defib in an attempt to restart his heart.

A 999 call was made to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service but it was five minutes before the ambulance was dispatched due to a high number of calls and operators being busy, the court heard.

That meant the call was first answered by a BT operator, and only transferred to a trained dispatcher when it was indicated the call was “critical”.

Consultant cardiologist Lieutenant Corporal Andrew Cox told the court he did not think that this delay had an impact on Josh’s death, due to “high quality” CPR and speed of defibrillation by his colleagues.

Furthermore, the inquest heard paramedics on the ground were not aware the air ambulance helicopter was unavailable and that teams were coming to Catterick Garrison by land.

One paramedic told the inquest she may have changed how they treated Josh, from Glossop, Derbyshire, had they known this.

Concluding the inquest Senior Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield said that while he could not say the delays and communication issues contributed to Josh’s death, the arrangements in place that day could pose a risk to future patients.

Mr Chipperfield said: “I know that the arrangements in place weren’t ordinary, nonetheless they have to be effective at all times and it seems on the evidence we have heard they were not.

“Although it isn’t possible to say that they had a detrimental effect in Josh’s case.

“Clearly there is a danger to life if circumstances could continue.”

The Senior Coroner for Durham and Darlington concluded Josh died of natural causes and recorded his medical cause of death as being unascertained.

Pathologist Dr Senadhira had initially recorded the cause of death as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome – where a cardiac arrest occurs in adults, but the exact cause is unknown.

The inquest had been told Josh was suffering what comrades described as a “chest infection” in the weeks before his death, and had been on a “downward spiral” of performance at physical training, not finishing a particularly challenging session. But the day he died he had shown no signs of struggling and was chatting throughout, planning a night out at the weekend with friends.

Paying tribute to his son, Simon Kennington said: “This gives us some closure, it’s been a long time.

“Josh died in bad circumstances anyway, it has just been made a lot worse by not knowing. We can move on now we’ve got a bit of closure.

“The army have been brilliant since we lost him. The support and care we have had from them has been brilliant.

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“Josh was a very happy and healthy child and adult. He was the youngest of three, and he wanted to be in the military since he was 11. It was his lifelong dream, and we were so proud of him. I don’t know what Josh would have done otherwise.

“He’s always in my thoughts. We miss him so much. It’s grief - they say the grief doesn’t get any smaller – you just grow around it.

“He was really into computer gaming, walking, taking the dogs out. He was a good lad. His friends miss him too.”