"When the aircraft was last seen in the vicinity of the Mull of Kintyre it was not being flown in accordance with IFR".
By definition, if the aircraft could be seen, it would have been clear of cloud and in sight of the surface. That is all that is required for a helicopter, even by civilian rules. Military rules are even less stringent. RAF aircraft have been flown for years in similar weather conditions. I spent 3 years on my first tour in a theatre where a 100' cloudbase and 500m visibility was deemed acceptable for day VFR ops.
The aircraft was unsuitable for IFR. The crew knew this and so did the higher authority that mandated the flight to be flown in a MK2. The crew asked to use a MK1 that was IFR capable. They didn't get one.
I can only conclude that this was an accident caused by bad management, if ever there was one. Unfortunately that same management was allowed to protect itself by allocating ALL blame elswhere.
K52, You and I will never agree. You are prepared to accept that a crew should be found guilty of manslaughter despite the lack of conclusive evidence. I am not.