Seven British soldiers were shot and killed by the same sniper rifle in Basra last year, the Ministry of Defence said today.

The soldiers were shot on the streets of the southern Iraqi city over a period of several months.

A spokesman for the MoD said Rifleman Aaron Lincoln, 18, 28-year-old Kingsman Danny Wilson, Kingsman Alan Jones, 20, Corporal Rodney Wilson, 30, 18-year-old Rifleman Paul Donnachie and two others who have not yet been named were all killed by bullets from the same weapon.

The soldiers died in April and June last year, and the MoD said there was no evidence to suggest that a single sniper was behind all the killings.

Earlier today, an inquest into the death of Rifleman Lincoln, of 2nd Battalion the Rifles, heard he died from a single bullet wound while on patrol on April 2.

The court heard that the US-made high velocity bullet penetrated his protective glasses and helmet.

Corporal Christopher Tulley, who was with Lincoln when he was shot, told the court the pair had climbed the steps of a hotel looking for a gunman when the first shot rang out.

"It was his [a sniper's] killing ground, and we just happened to move into it," Tulley said.

He described seeing Lincoln sway slightly before falling to the ground as the gunman fired a second time, narrowly missing other soldiers.

The company commander, Major Alexander Baring, said all soldiers out on patrol would have been equipped with full body armour, helmets and goggles, both with ballistic protection.

However, the coroners court, in Spennymoor, County Durham, heard the soldiers' helmets were not strong enough to withstand high velocity bullets.

Ann Kiernan, a ballistics expert, told the court: "There had been six incidents from March to June where projectiles have all been discharged from the same rifle."

The coroner, Andrew Tweddle, said Kiernan "has been able to corroborate and confirm that this single weapon in Basra has been responsible for a number of fatalities".

He recorded a narrative verdict of unlawful killing, adding that Lincoln had not been shot by friendly forces.

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