War widow Samantha Roberts today demanded that Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon apologises for her husband's death.

A Ministry of Defence inquiry has revealed that Sergeant Steven Roberts was ordered to hand back body armour that would have saved his life because of equipment shortages.

Sgt Roberts, 33, of Shipley, was the first British soldier to die in combat when he was killed near Basra on the third day of the war in Iraq in March.

And the MoD report has also revealed that the tank commander was probably killed by friendly fire during an attack by Iraqi dissidents.

Today, Mrs Roberts said "sorry" was the minimum she was expecting from Mr Hoon when she meets him in the New Year after the official report confirmed her belief that equipment shortages caused her husband's death. She said: "Sorry would make a start but it is more than that.

"It is the way we have been treated so far. We cannot sue them as you can sometimes in negligence cases. We will never have our time in court. We will never have that moment.

"It is really hard to think that Steve would still be here if it had not been for their cock-ups."

Paul Tyler, MP for North Cornwall, where Sgt Roberts was originally from, has demanded answers to the MoD report of the inquiry into his death.

"The inevitable conclusion must be that MoD incompetence or inadequate preparations, despite the very long build-up before hostilities began, led to the avoidable death of Sgt Steve Roberts," he said.

"Sgt Roberts was a very brave man, doing his duty. Those who serve in the Armed Forces - on our behalf - know the dangers they face. Tragic mistakes are an inevitable feature of all hostilities, however sophisticated the technology becomes.

"But his widow and family are naturally devastated by this information, dragged out of the Ministry of Defence after eight long months of waiting and worrying."

Sgt Roberts was serving with the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment near Al Zubayr, south west of Basra, when he was shot dead on March 24.

Although he had to return his Enhanced Combat Body Armour he was given standard Combat Body Armour. But crucially that did not have protective ceramic plates fitted.

A reconstruction of Sgt Roberts' death was carried out and pathologists concluded the armour would have saved his life.

The MoD report said if he had been wearing the armour the bullet that struck him in the centre of the chest and killed him "would have been defeated".

The report has also revealed that a senior officer from his regiment wrote to Sgt Roberts' family saying another commander had fired at the Iraqi militant to help Sgt Roberts.

The Iraqi was killed but "tragically Steve was also hit" which, Mr Tyler said, could mean it was a stray friendly bullet fired by his colleague that killed Sgt Roberts.

Last week a National Audit Office report said "insufficient numbers" of the special flak-jackets were distributed in theatre largely because of difficulties with asset-tracking and distribution.

The ECBA alone provides no protection. It is the high velocity plates covering the heart and aorta that provide the protection.

They are designed to stop bullets fired from 50 metres away. But the MoD report said there was a 90 per cent chance bullets would be stopped from 10 metres away or less.

The MoD's own report said the enhanced armour offered "significant protection". It said data suggested body armour cut the number of US forces killed in action from torso wounds by at least 50 per cent and possibly as much as 90 per cent.