IT is heartbreaking enough when a young life is lost as a result of enemy fire in a war zone.

But the death of 24-year-old Christopher Maddison, from Scarborough, resulted from serious failings by his own commanders - and that must make his loss even harder to bear for his loved ones.

At least the Royal Marine's family now know the truth about how he died during a river patrol in Iraq in 2003. Even if the truth is especially unpalatable, they have the consolation of knowing that lessons, hopefully, will be learned and further tragedies avoided.

But had it not been for a BBC documentary, the truth may well have been covered up because the Ministry of Defence originally concluded that Christopher had been killed in an enemy ambush.

Only when the BBC questioned the evidence was the case reopened and it emerged that he had been killed due to a series of operational errors and non-existent communication.

Yesterday's inquest ruling, which finally brought the case to a conclusion, came as Tony Blair agreed to "consult very widely" over proposals to restrict the use of the Freedom of Information Act by the media.

The killing of Christopher Maddison, and the failure of the MoD to reveal what had really happened, is a timely demonstration of why it is so important that the media has as much access as possible to information which is in the public interest.

We cannot trust the authorities always to ensure that the truth is told so that important lessons can be learned.