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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/new-taliban-ied-killed-bomb-hero.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Nothing could have prevented the death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, a coroner has ruled" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/min-new-taliban-ied-killed-bomb-hero.jpg" alt="Nothing could have prevented the death of Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid, a coroner has ruled"/></a></p>
<p>A bomb disposal hero did not have equipment to detect a new Taliban device which killed him in Afghanistan, an inquest has heard.</p>
<p>Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid was posthumously awarded the George Cross for disarming 64 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in five months.</p>
<p>But on the last day before he was due to fly home to see his family, he triggered a pressure plate which had recently been developed by the Taliban as he disarmed his third set of explosives on that day alone in Sangin</p>
<p>The 30-year-old was hailed as &#8220;phenomenally great&#8221; and &#8220;a giant of a man&#8221; as his inquest in Truro came to a close.</p>
<p>Colonel Bob Seddon, Britain&#8217;s top bomb disposal officer who resigned last year, said it was a &#8220;constant battle&#8221; to keep up with new IEDs developed by the Taliban.</p>
<p>&#8220;With the equipment capability that Olaf had at the time, he would not have had the ability to detect a low metal content pressure plate,&#8221; Col Seddon told the hearing.</p>
<p>Cornwall coroner Dr Emma Carlyon heard that he had been &#8220;impatient&#8221; after a poignant phone call with his five-year-old stepson Laird the day before and &#8220;not his usual jovial self&#8221; on October 31, 2009.</p>
<p>But summing up evidence at Truro Coroner&#8217;s Court, she recorded: &#8220;There was nothing in the operation which fell below what might have been expected and that could have contributed to his death.&#8221;</p>
<p>Speaking after the inquest, the Army said it had moved as &#8220;quickly as possible&#8221; to develop technology to combat the &#8220;constantly changing&#8221; threat from insurgents.</p>
<p>Widow Christina was absent from the hearing after walking out on evidence midway through Wednesday&#8217;s session, but issued a written statement saying: &#8220;It is a deeply unsettling and traumatic process for myself, our families, friends and, of course, those members of his team. I will take the next few days to consider its findings in full.&#8221;</p>
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