Deaths at Deepcut army barracks

There were four deaths at Deepcut army barracks between 1995 and 2002. These were of four trainees in Phase 2 of soldier training: Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray and James Collison. They were each found with gunshot wounds. In each case the conclusion reached following an investigation by the Royal Military Police and Surrey Police was one of suicide. However, the families of the trainees have rejected the findings of these and subsequent investigations. Calls have been made to investigate any possible links between the four deaths. Articles in the media have been critical of the investigations as well, citing in particular the lack of a forensic examination of the evidence.

Trainees

The four deaths were:^[1][2][3]

• On 9 June 1995, Private Sean Benton (20 years of age), from Hastings, East Sussex, England, died from five bullet wounds in his chest.
• On 27 November 1995, Private Cheryl James (18) from Froncysyllte, Llangollen, Wales, died from a single bullet wound in her head, her body was found in a wood not far from her abandoned guard post.
• On 17 September 2001, Private Geoff Gray (17) from Seaham, County Durham, England, died from two gunshot wounds in his head whilst on guard duty, having left colleagues to carry out a lone prowler patrol in contravention of the normal Barracks' guard-duty procedure.
• On 23 March 2002, Private James Collinson (17) from Perth, Scotland, died from a single gunshot wound in his head whilst performing guard duty, his body being found near the Barracks' perimeter fence.

Investigations

First investigations of each death were undertaken by Surrey Police and the Royal Military Police, as each was an independent incident and determined in the usual manner for unexpected deaths by a Coroner. Each Coroner's inquest resulted in a verdict of suicide by gunshot wounds.

A later review/re-investigation by Surrey Police treated the four deaths as potentially related, but sustained the coroners' verdicts of suicide. An investigation consequent to this finding, also by Surrey Police, identified a number of failures of the Army's duty of care at the barracks, leaving the opportunity and motive for suicide available. Its findings were rejected by most members of the families who, following the series, sought and in most cases, still seek a judicial inquiry into the circumstances. The findings led to media and families' criticism of the army investigations of the deaths over record keeping, transparency and particularly maintenance of evidence and forensic material.

The most recent private review with voluntary cooperation of all parties by Nicholas Blake QC of Matrix Chambers published in March 2006^[1] (completed over two years) concluded that it was more likely than not that the deaths were self-inflicted but criticised a number of aspects of training at Deepcut at the time which could have contributed to the deaths.

Points identified by his report were:

• The training environment at Deepcut, causing low morale through poor accommodation, limited recreational facilities, and the balance between privacy and dormitory life.
• Unsupervised access to weapons.
• Supervision of trainees.
• Discipline, bullying and informal sanctions.
• Ventilation of grievances.
• Poor instructors.

An Inquiry Report by the Army Board of Inquiry was due to be published in December 2007, but was delayed by the Ministry of Defence until May 2009. The inquiry supported Mr Blake QC's findings and returned open verdicts.^[4]

Media calls for further investigations and a judicial inquiry

Articles critical of the investigations by journalists Brian Cathcart and Heather Mills featured in Private Eye in January 2010. The publication has been consistently critical of these judgements and supports the families' appeals for further investigation. These criticisms draw on the later investigations to suggest the initial forensic investigations were flawed.^[5][6] Cathcart has also been critical of the treatment of the four cases in the media.^[7]

Fresh inquests

On 18 July 2014, it was announced that a new inquest had been ordered by the High Court into the death of soldier Pte Cheryl James following a legal challenge by her family. The judges said that there had been “an insufficiency of inquiry” into her death.^[8] The original inquest, held in 1995 soon after Pte James's death, lasted barely an hour and recorded an open verdict. The ruling meant that new inquests were also likely to follow into the deaths of the other three recruits: Pte Sean Benton (20), Pte Geoff Gray (17), and Pte James Collinson (17).^[9][10]

Surrey Police has been criticised for its handling of the case and Judge Thornton said that Surrey Police had at first refused full disclosure of the reinvestigation report to Pte James's family. The force eventually handed over 44 lever arch files of documents after being threatened with legal action.^[8] The force said it had now voluntarily provided all relevant material to the family – since being asked to early in 2012 – and what had been disclosed "affords fresh grounds for an inquest". The documents handed over included "important material relating to ballistics, the noise of the gunshot, bullet fragments, the finding of the body, the credibility of some witnesses, and further witnesses".^[11] On 15 September 2014, it was announced that the fresh inquest would be conducted by Recorder of London, Brian Barker QC.^[12]

In March 2015, the family of Pte Geoff Gray demanded a fresh inquest after receiving 16,000 pages of new evidence from Surrey Police. At the original inquest, which lasted just four hours, only 20 pages of evidence were presented. Pte Gray’s father, also called Geoff, told the Daily Mirror: "I can’t go into what I’ve seen in the new pages, but it is all stuff that was not seen by the coroner at the original inquest into Geoff’s death. […] We were very, very naive. We should have had representation. It is pretty definite that we will be making an application to have a new inquest."^[13] The additional material was released following a legal request from counsel representing Pte Gray’s family. The force said that it had "agreed to this request on a voluntary basis" adding that "Surrey Police is not reinvestigating the deaths, but is committed to providing disclosure to the families through their legal teams and will provide the appropriate support for any potential inquests in the future."^[13]

In April 2015, it was reported in Private Eye that, "on the force's own admission, it has still only handed over 75 percent of the material it holds" in relation to Pte Cheryl James and that the force had made legal submissions to Judge Brian Barker to delay the new inquest into her death "indefinitely". Private Eye also commented that Pte James's family, "should not be forced to wait any longer by the machinations of the police force which has let them down so many times before".^[10] The BBC reported Pte James’ father, Des James, as saying: "It's insensitive that they're delaying it. It's been really tough for us getting to this point. I made the mistake of relaxing and thinking I could leave it to the legal process."^[14] The campaign group Liberty, whose lawyers are acting for the James family, said the delay would: "have a devastating impact on Mr and Mrs James. They have come so far and made so much progress only to have Surrey Police make this 11th hour request to delay matters. It is intolerable."^[15]

In May 2015, Private Eye further reported: "Revelations last week that the ‘yellow’ fragment of bullet recovered from the body of teenager Cheryl James […] did not appear to match the ‘red’ army issue ammunition raises serious questions about the botched investigations and inquiries over 20 years into the deaths". The report added: "The assumption was always that she had committed suicide, even though there was no evidence to connect the SA80 weapon alongside her body with her death: no fingerprints were collected from the rifle; ammunition from it was inexplicably destroyed; the clothing Cheryl was wearing was never examined forensically; and, crucially, the bullet fragment said to have been collected at post-mortem, which we now know was ‘yellow’ (or brass, rather than copper-coated), had curiously disappeared". The magazine added that there was "material to suggest Cheryl had been the victim of serious harassment and sexual violence", which it said had "scandalously […] remained buried" in Surrey police files despite subsequent reviews of the force’s initial investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police and the Blake review. Pte James’ parents argued, through their legal representative Alison Foster QC, for their daughter’s body to be exhumed in the hope of recovering further bullet fragments. Coroner Judge Brian Barker QC postponed making what he described as the "difficult and unusual" step of ordering an exhumation, but rejected the suggestion from Surrey police to delay the inquest and hold it alongside those of the other Deepcut recruits.^[16] The coroner announced that there would be a further pre-hearing on Thursday September 10, 2015 and that the full inquest would be held between 1 February and 24 March 2016.^[17]

At the September 2015 pre-inquest hearing, the Coroner's Court in Woking was informed that Pte James’ body had been exhumed the previous month and that a post-mortem examination had been carried out by two pathologists, during which metallic fragments were recovered for ballistic analysis. Her family had attended a short reburial service, also in August 2015. The James family’s barrister, Alison Foster QC, said that the experts conducting the ballistic analysis "ought not to have a significant connection either with the MoD [Ministry of Defence] or indeed a police force and certainly no connection with Surrey Police" because of what she called a "considerable shadow" over the initial handling of the case.^[18]

On 3 June 2016, Mr Barker, the coroner into the inquest of Pte James, ruled that her death was suicide. He said that she died as a result of a "self-inflicted shot" which she fired in an "intended and deliberate act".^[19][20] He added: "We have explored as best we can what could be unearthed at this late stage within the legal constraints I am bound by. Clear answers as to why are just not there to be seen."^[21]

The family rejected the conclusion, with Pte James' father saying he felt there had been a "gaping hole" in the evidence and that he did not "believe the evidence led to this verdict". Additionally, he described Deepcut as a "toxic and horrible place for a young woman", and called for a public inquiry into the culture of the barracks.^[20][22] A former head of the army, General Lord Dannatt, also said that there should be a public inquiry, with the current head of the army, General Sir Nick Carter, saying: "If that’s the best method of getting to the heart of the matter then I guess that should be the way that we go."^[22][23]

In arts

The deaths were used as the basis for a play, Deep Cut, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival followed by a short run at the Tricycle Theatre in north London.^[24]

See also

• Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut

References

External links

• "Who were the Deepcut four?". BBC News. 1 February 2016. 
• "Inquest into the death of Cheryl James: Factual Findings" (PDF). 3 June 2016. 
• Deepcut. The truth – a site by the families of the victims