A NORTH-EAST soldier is suing the Ministry of Defence after the troop carrier he was driving crashed killing his commander.

In a highly unusual case that is likely to re-ignite the debate over the state of Britain's armed forces, Green Howard John Paul Young claims he was given a 28-year-old armoured personnel carrier with faulty brakes.

He was driving down a notorious mountain road in Bosnia when the vehicle hit a crash barrier and careered over a 30ft cliff.

Lance Corporal Steven Thirlwell, who was a reservist, died when he was impaled on his own rifle.

Private Young, from Loftus, east Cleveland, has no recollection of the fatal crash which happened on a steep and tortuous road between Baraci and Sipovo six years ago.

The tragedy was the first fatal casualty among British forces since the deployment of a Nato peacekeeping force in 1995.

And yesterday's hearing at Middlesbrough County Court heard that their troop carrier - which is steered by two tillers - was in an unsatisfactory condition when LCpl Thirlwell, from Burton Agnes, near Driffield, was killed.

Private Young's barrister Michael Bowerman told Judge Tony Briggs: "He was driving a vehicle which should not have been on the road down a mountain.

"As to the causes, either there was a defect or a driver error."

The court was told that an engineer's report carried out on the vehicle said that it was overdue a service, had poor brakes and should not have been driven.

The hearing was told that another Army driver had reported steering problems three weeks earlier and urged Army chiefs to have it taken off the road.

The driver said that there was excessive play on the left tiller even at walking speed, and Mr Bowerman said: "People do drive these things with excessive play on the tillers. They were in the Army and they did what they ware told.

"It does not absolve the Army from providing equipment that is safe."

Mr Bowerman told the court that Private Young could not control the vehicle when it hit the crash barrier because he could not steer it. To make matters worse the brakes were impaired.

Pte Young, who had been in the Army for three years at the time of the crash, said in evidence that he had driven all 12 of his unit's armoured personnel carriers.

He said: "Each vehicle almost seems to have its own character when it comes to steering.

"Every driver always carries out checks on vehicles before setting off."

The court watched a video of the route down a winding mountain road.

Michael Mabbott, a lance corporal in the Worcestershire Sherwood Foresters, reported the fault in the vehicle before it was handed over to the Green Howards.

He told the court: "They are old vehicles. There were problems in quite of few of them with the steering.

"The top speed of these vehicles in 32 miles an hour but we would not go above 20."

The state of Britain's armed forces has become the focus of a furious political debate in recent months.

Marines deployed to Afghanistan claimed their SA80 rifles were prone to jamming - despite a costly upgrade when the original specification was found to be inadequate.

Tanks used in a costly operation in Oman last year broke down because their air filters had not been replaced with sand-proof variants.

Pte Young is suing the MoD for damages for multiple injuries and post traumatic stress on the grounds of negligence over a defective vehicle.

LCpl Thirlwell, who was 26, was married with two sons.

He had been attached to the Green Howards for only nine days when the accident happened.

The case continues today.