A SOLDIER who trained at Sandhurst with Princes William and Harry died after what his family believes was a severe reaction to an inoculation given ahead of being posted to Afghanistan.

Their claim follows an inquest finding that he was misdiagnosed as suffering from “Afghan terror”.

Lt John Abnett, 24, from Great Wishford, started displaying signs of illness three days after being given a vaccination against Hepatitis B in March 2008, an inquest in Bristol heard on Friday.

Despite symptoms such as slurred speech and erratic behaviour, he was given a second dose of the vaccine a week later as part of an accelerated schedule for soldiers.

The medical centre at his base then failed to follow up a recommendation of a neurological referral and instead sent him to The Priory, a mental health hospital in Bristol.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Dorcas Kingham, the hospital’s medical director, told his family he was suffering from an “acute stress reaction” due to “Afghan terror”.

In fact, the inquest jury heard, he was suffering from increasingly frequent seizures which eventually led to massive brain damage and a heart attack. He died in Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital on May 24 after spending 56 days in intensive care.

The jury gave a narrative verdict in which they said Lt Abnett died of a brain illness and that a definite link between the vaccinations and that illness could not be proven.

But they said he should have been referred for a neurological investigation in March.

Speaking after the inquest his mother, former midwife Jane Abnett, said the family had never believed his illness was caused by anxiety about his first tour of duty.

“He couldn’t wait to go to Afghanistan. He was very proud to be a soldier, to be on track to becoming what he had wanted to be since he was 11 years old.

“The consultant reached the diagnosis very quickly without, as far as we know, doing any background checks with people who knew John and very quickly decided he was feigning all his symptoms, either knowingly or not, due to a fictitious disorder.”

Lt Abnett, whose father Charles is a chartered surveyor with Salisbury firm Middleton and Major, was educated at Great Wishford First and Salisbury Cathedral Schools before going on to Dauntsey’s School and then Nottingham University where he gained an MSc in civil engineering.

He went to Sandhurst in 2005, the intake year in between Prince William and Prince Harry, and excelled in his studies there.

He was due to go to Afghanistan in April 2008 as an advance search officer with 33 Engineer Regiment, after successfully completing two tough courses, including one in defusing roadside bombs, which he passed with distinction.

Mrs Abnett said her son was in peak physical condition due to his army training and had shown no previous signs of illness or mental health problems.

She said: “We will always believe his illness was something to do with the vaccine, whether it triggered something genetic or it was the vaccine itself. It could have been a one in a million reaction and how could we ever prove that?

“We remain deeply unhappy about several aspects of John’s care. We think that if he had had proper treatment up to 23 days before his death then he might have been saved.”

The Ministry of Defence this week refused to comment on allegations it missed an opportunity to save Lt Abnett by not referring him to a neurologist but said the inquest verdict had been noted and any comments now made by the coroner in the wake of the verdict will be looked at in detail.

A spokesman for The Priory said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with Mr Abnett’s family at this difficult time. The full details surrounding Mr Abnett’s death have now been examined by the Coroner’s Court and we note the verdict.”

The Department of Health recognises that seizures are a possible side effect of the vaccine for Hepatitis B, a blood infection that can lead to liver cancer, but that serious reactions to the vaccine are extremely rare.