Army slated over Deepcut bullying

The army allowed a culture of bullying to take hold at Deepcut barracks, an official inquiry into the deaths of four young soldiers at the base will conclude.

The findings, by Surrey police, will be published next week and are expected to spark a wideranging debate about bullying in the Army.

But as the Evening Standard revealed in May, the 13-month long inquiry will not recommend any charges after finding no evidence to suggest any of the recruits weremurdered.

The inquiry was launched last year after two soldiers at the Surrey barracks were found shot dead within seven months, amid concerns among their families.

Two other soldiers were found shot dead at the base eight years ago.

A team of up to 30 detectives worked on the £1 million inquiry into the deaths of Privates Sean Benton, 20, and Cheryl James, 18, who died in 1995; and James Collinson, 17, and Geoff Gray, 17, who died in 2001.

Each of their cases is examined in detail and they point to a bullying culture at the barracks, not between senior officers and NCOs and the soldiers, but among a peer group. The Army has accepted the inquiry's findings and the need to take action to tackle the bullying.

But it may not be enough for the families of the four soldiers, who have long called for an independent public inquiry to examine whether the deaths were the result of foul play rather than suicide.

An officer who recently served at the barracks said: "A really nasty bullying culture exists between young, white males which is very sexist and drinkfuelled."

Another officer conceded there had been a lack of supervision by NCOs and officers which allowed the problem to get worse.

Deepcut is a clearing house for young soldiers following basic training who are about to learn a trade or skill in the Royal Logistics Corps.

This means much of their training is by civilians and they are not closely supervised by military staff - a contrast with the closely watched recruit training they will have just undergone.

"Deepcut is too big and too anonymous," said one supervising officer at the barracks. "With a high turnover of young soldiers going through, it's easy to get lost."

The Army emphasises that it has taken the events at Deepcut seriously and will learn from them. A spokesman said: "Each of these deaths is a real tragedy."

He said that the Army still has a lot to learn - particularly in dealing with bereaved families in such cases where he conceded there has been "a lack of sensitivity". Two operational reports on improving training conditions have been issued recently to units across the Army.

They are aimed at improving mentoring, counselling and support to soldiers in the early years of their Army life.

"These training assessments are one sign of the intensity with which we have addressed this problem," said the spokesman.

Some critics have suggested that the Deepcut complex should be closed altogether.

All four victims died while they were either on guard, about to begin or had just finished guard which led to suggestions that soldiers should not carry arms with live ammunition on sentry duty.

This has been rejected by the Army as it says it undermines training.

However, a private security contractor has now been hired to guard the two buildings outside the perimeter fence.

The Army has been concerned about the behaviour of a number of soldiers at Deepcut for some time. A substantial proportion of them have been told to leave because they are deemed "unsociable".

"There a lot of lessons to learn from these tragedies," said the Army spokesman, "and we are determined to learn them."

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