THE killing of friendly fire victim Matty Hull in Iraq four years ago was a "criminal, unlawful act" tantamount to manslaughter, a coroner ruled yesterday.

The coroner delivered a damning verdict that the US A-10 pilot who swooped on Lance Corporal Hull's convoy after mistaking it for the enemy was acting outside the rules of engagement.

Matty Hull was educated in Shaftesbury and lived in nearby West Knoyle.

The widow of the 25-year-old Lance Corporal of Horse broke down in tears as the coroner announced his verdict.

"The attack on the convoy amounted to an assault," he said.

"It was unlawful because there was no lawful reason for it and in that respect it was criminal."

Susan Hull, 30, who has fought relentlessly to find the truth about how and why her husband died, just three days before his 26th birthday, said today "every step" she had taken had been for him.

Speaking after the inquest at Oxford's Old Assizes had ended, she said: "I think all of our family feel it was the right verdict, it's what we waited four years to hear.

"There's a great sense of relief it's over.

"We heard what we waited to hear but, in fact, what that means for us is that Matthew's death was entirely avoidable."

Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker said the pilot acted outside the law because he failed to "properly identify the vehicles and seek clearance before opening fire" on the convoy on March 28, 2003, killing L/Cpl Hull and injuring four other soldiers including Lance Corporal Chris Finney, 19, later awarded the George Cross.

The inquest heard a cockpit recording transcript, taken from one of the two planes circling 47 miles north of Basra, in which the pilots wrongly identified orange panels - meant to identify coalition vehicles as friendly - as orange rockets and the Windsor-based Royal Household Cavalry regiment's reconnaissance patrol Scimitars as enemy fighters.

Mr Walker said: "The pilot who opened fire did so with disregard for the rules of engagement and acting outside the protection of the law of armed conflict."

But the US Department of Defence disagreed, issuing a statement after the verdict claiming the death was a "tragic accident".