Published: 09 March 2004
Deepcut
The fifth & final report from Surrey Police, regarding the deaths at the Deepcut Army Barracks, is now available on their website.
Between 1995 and 2002 four soldiers died at the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, Surrey: Privates Sean Benton (9 Jun 95), Cheryl James (27 Nov 95), Geoff Gray (17 Sep 01) and James Collinson (23 Mar 02).
All were members of the RLC and were in Phase 2 training and each died from gunshot wounds.
The first three deaths were all investigated by Surrey Police and inquests were held into those deaths. Open verdicts were given in the cases of Ptes James and Gray, whilst it was the opinion of the Surrey Coroner that Pte Benton took his own life.
As part of their investigations into Pte Collinson's death, Surrey Police decided to reopen the three previous cases.
After 18 months of investigations, in Sep 03, Surrey Police submitted a separate report on each death to the Surrey Coroner. Surrey Police have state that "no evidence has come to light so far to indicate any prospect of a prosecution directly related to the deaths".
The inquest into Pte Collinson's death is scheduled to be held later this year.
This final report calls for a broader enquiry into Army training to look at:
- why young soldiers are particularly vulnerable to undetermined death, self-harm and suicide and
- consider an independent system of oversight, similar to that seen in other public bodies, for the high risk and sensitive areas of recruit training.
Surrey Police has acknowledged the
shortcomings of the original investigations into the four deaths and apologised to the families for not taking the lead and ensuring a thorough inquiry at the outset.
The final report recognises that the Army has acted to progress the lessons logged on the learning account by Surrey Police in 2002 and that there now exists a programme of work to introduce improvements across a wide range of practices and procedures relating to the care of soldiers in training.
The Chief Constable of Surrey Police, Denis O'Connor, said:
"In undertaking the overall investigation and producing the final report, Surrey Police has had regard to the work of the Army to improve the care regime since the investigation began in 2002 and the Army were notified of our initial concerns.
However, despite these considerations, Surrey Police remains concerned that more needs to be done to address areas of risk and strengthen the care regime for young soldiers in training.
This is most likely to be achieved through new arrangements for accountability and independent oversight."
The Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey, Bob Quick, said:
"Accordingly we recommend that the Ministry of Defence considers a broader investigation of:
- Whether the risks identified at Deepcut are replicated across the wider ATRA and how these may relate to the issues of self harm, suicide and undermined deaths.
- How the Army's care regime may be further improved.
- How independent oversight might help the Army define and maintain appropriate standards of care for young soldiers."
Adam Ingram, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, issued a statement to Parliament responding to the publication of the Surrey Police report.
Mr Ingram also announced his intention to respond positively to the report's recommendations and to make a
more detailed announcement in the near future, when the Department has had time to examine the report more closely.
Further information
Final report: www.surrey.police.uk/Deepcut_final.pdf
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