Suicide soldiers were 'bullied'

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

An army barracks in which four soldiers have died from shooting in seven years has held 28 courts martial for violent conduct since 1995.

Families of the four young soldiers who died at the Deepcut barracks in Surrey are so concerned about the deaths and the part which bullying played that they have demanded an investigation. They also want an inquiry into the possible involvement of officers at the camp. The parents of one of the victims believe that he died just before he was to expose bullying at the camp.

The call for an investigation comes following growing reports of bullying, uncontrolled drinking in the officers' mess and a culture of endemic violence at the Royal Logistical Corps site. Other deaths may have the result of "bullying gone wrong", possibly after a prolonged drinking session.

Crucially, three out of the four bodies were found in the relatively small officers' compound to which access was tightly controlled – a fact that has never been explained.

The Army maintains that all four took their own lives but the grieving families now fear they were murdered, and that one or a small group of officers may be being wrongly protected from justice.

Deepcut is riven with violence. There have been 28 courts martial there for violent conduct since the killings began in 1995 but details of the offences and the culprits have been withheld.

"There's an inextricable link between those deaths and bullying at Deepcut," said Des James, father of one of the dead sentries, Private Cheryl James, who has been trying to amass evidence about bullying at the site.

Geoffrey Gray, the father of another of the victims, Private Geoff Gray, who died at the age of 17, went further by saying: "In the absence of any proper evidence, my mind has gone over a million scenarios that could have taken place the night of Geoff's death.

"But with three out of four of the dead discovered so near the officers' mess, you have to ask whether an officer was involved."

There are no names yet under suspicion but the families believe that an officer on the camp is by far the most likely culprit.

Despite the Army's insistence that the four deaths were self-inflicted, logistically, at least two could not possibly have been suicides; the other two seem highly unlikely to have been. But only now has a police investigation been opened and a key witness, until now practically ignored, summoned back from Afghanistan.

The families believe there has been a cover-up and want to know if there is a serial killer at large at Deepcut barracks.

In June 1995, Private Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, East Sussex, died from five gunshot wounds in the chest. Four were from long range, a fifth inflicted from closer by. The angle of entry was reportedly from above. Suicide was the recorded verdict and Private Benton did face worrying disciplinary charges which might have supplied a motive.

But any ballistics expert will confirm that people taking their own lives do not shoot themselves in the chest – any more than they do in the foot – and particularly not from long range or above.

Five months later in November, the body of Private Cheryl James, 18, was discovered in woodland 90 feet outside the garrison perimeter. She had been on patrol and her rifle was lying beside her. She had a bullet wound to the head. Suicide was the Army's verdict, but no forensic evidence was ever collected, and she was her normal, happy self right up to when she died. She had also made plans for meeting friends and family for Christmas. Unconvinced by the Army's story, the coroner recorded an open verdict.

The next death took place last year, just after the 11 September atrocities. Private Geoff Gray, 17, originally from Seaham in Co Durham, was a superb athlete who loved the Army and had been selected for "fast-track" promotion. Yet he was found with two bullet wounds to his head in the officers' compound. The Army said it was suicide. But either bullet wound would have killed him: he would have been incapable of firing the SA80 rifle again. The bullets were also fired from above his left eyebrow – again, not a possible angle for a self-inflicted shot.

When his parents went to identify his body at the hospital, his bullet wounds had been concealed by bandaging. But they still noticed that he had sustained a black eye, red weals around his neck, bruising to his chest and were told by doctors that his lungs were full of blood. These were not injuries sustained from gunshot, but indicated that he had been beaten up before he died.

His last night alive, while on patrol, was not uneventful, as his second in command Lance Corporal Craig Filmer has revealed in a statement.

"Happy, laughing and joking" when he went on duty, Private Gray had later challenged a civilian, an apparently drunk balding Irishman, who was trying to gain entry to the officers' mess. The Irishman continually swore at the private until Lance Corporal Filmer intervened, and even then continued to be abusive. But two officers from the mess vouched for the man and he was allowed in.

At 1.20am, there were two reports of rapid gunfire somewhere on camp. Lance Corporal Filmer did a head-count and found Private Gray was missing. But at least three searches of the compound found nothing. Only on the fourth sweep was Private Gray's body discovered, close to the fence, and with his rifle at his feet. A figure was then seen running away and the fence was heard rattling. The family believes he must have been moved.

Lance Corporal Filmer was not at the inquest – the Army explaining his absence by stating he was on a ship and therefore unavailable. The coroner recorded an open verdict but the Army told Private Gray's parents it was suicide.

The last to die was Private James Collinson, 17, from Perth, who lost his life on 23 March this year from a single gunshot wound to the head just hours after seeing his parents. The inquest has yet to be held, but the Army says he took his own life. His parents strongly believe he was murdered.

The four families met for the first time at Westminster last week at a gathering organised by the former Northern Ireland minister Kevin McNamara to call for a public inquiry. All now believe that a murderer is on the loose at Deepcut – and that at least two and quite likely all of the young soldiers were his victims.