Man from Shaftesbury ‘unlawfully killed’ in Mozambique terrorist attack
An inquest has been taking place in Winchester into the death of Philip Mawer
A coroner has ruled that a man from Shaftesbury was unlawfully killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack by Al-Shabaab terrorists as he attempted to flee from a Mozambiquan hotel besieged by the insurgents.
Philip Mawer died of multiple injuries caused in the attack on the convoy of vehicles which had left the Amarula Hotel in the town of Palma in the north of the East African country on March 26 2021 after it was feared it would become overrun by the rebel fighters.
Hampshire coroner Jason Pegg told the inquest that the 58-year-old had “gallantly” given up his space on a rescue helicopter the previous day allowing women, children and the sick to be evacuated first.
And he had also refused a seat in an armoured vehicle in the convoy instead choosing to take his own “soft-skin” vehicle with two passengers.
Speaking to Mr Mawer’s two brothers who attended the Winchester hearing, Mr Pegg said: “Your brother was a true leader, he put his team and others first before himself and he did so at a time when it’s quite likely, very likely, he would have been in fear.
“To have been in the Amarula Hotel between March 24 and 26 would have been a highly stressful experience.
“Philip would have know the atrocities being committed just beyond that compound wall, the killings, the amputations, the beheadings and Philip knew, because he knew Mozambique well and had experience in that type of environment, if the insurgents breached the compound security he would have been captured and killed.
“Despite that hostile environment, Philip had the character where he expressed a sense of relief when he knew his team had been safely evacuated to a more secure site.
“Despite the threat to Philip personally, despite the hostile environment in which he found himself, Philip had the character, the gallantry, to put women and children first and I am sure you two brothers and the wider family are proud of Philip and rightly so.
“It’s also clear to me you miss your brother greatly.”
Mr Pegg concluded that Mr Mawer was unlawfully killed, with his decisions not to take a seat on the evacuation helicopter or in the armoured vehicle contributing to his death.
He added: “This was a dynamic and extremely hostile environment and the encroaching insurgents was one of the key reasons the vehicle move heading north commenced that afternoon.”
The inquest was told that the Mozambiquan government had contracted the South Africa-based Dyck Advisory Group (DAG) to provide armoured helicopters to help in its fight against the insurgency.
Mr Pegg said that although the DAG helicopters had rescued 24 people from the hotel on March 25, their operations were under control of the Mozambiquan police and it was not under their discretion to carry out further evacuation missions.
He added that other organisations, including the Total oil company, had not been obliged to provide aviation fuel to DAG which he said had managed to obtain fuel for its operations from other sources.
The inquest heard that the manager of the hotel managed to contract a helicopter to rescue himself, his two dogs and another person from the hotel on the same day as Mr Mawer was killed.
Mr Mawer was employed by RA International at the time of his death and had been based in Mozambique for 18 months managing the building of camps for workers involved in a large natural gas project.
His family said in a statement after his death: “Philip was an ebullient, outgoing character who had something of the lovable rogue about him.”
Mr Mawer’s brother, William Mawer, told the hearing: “Philip was a young brother to Mark and I, he was an absolutely amazing individual and his key characteristics were his incredible generosity, his lust for life, his sense of humour and his ability to get things done in really crazy difficult situations.”