How not to serve your country....

"Report condemns Deepcut death probe

A high profile police investigation into the deaths of four young recruits at the Deepcut army barracks has come in for sharp criticism by another force, a report is expected to show on Friday.

A review of the £1 million Surrey Police reinvestigation is thought to have concluded that there were problems with the police's "mindset" towards the case, a "lack of focus" early on and that national guidelines were not followed.

An internal police document is also thought to show that discussions were under way over how to steer public opinion away from the view that the four recruits had been murdered rather than committing suicide.

Ptes Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray and James Collinson were each found dead from gunshot wounds at the camp in Surrey between 1995 and 2002.

The more recent of the deaths in 2001 and 2002, those of Ptes Gray and Collinson, sparked new questions over what was happening inside the camp and prompted Surrey Police to launch a major reinvestigation covering all four deaths.

By September 2003 the force formally announced that no-one was to be prosecuted over the matter but no details of the extensive findings on the circumstances of the deaths have yet been released to the public more than two years later.

While the families' requests for a full public inquiry have been refused, a complex web of partial inquiries including an ongoing paper review, an inquiry by MPs and police reviews have been under way since.

Parents of the four soldiers, who have been denied access to the police findings on their children's deaths while the various legal processes continue, have accused the authorities of collectively erecting a smokescreen.

Devon and Cornwall Police was called in late in 2003 to review the Surrey force's handling of the investigation after concerns were expressed by the families of the four dead soldiers.

While the deaths were widely explained as apparent suicides, some of the families fear that their children could have been murdered at the garrison."

Does any one else in the UK feel a high degree of disgust whenever the treatment of the Deepcut deaths and the of the families involved is highlighted. This sort of thing is why no one trusts the military to investigate their own. Sad to see the Government and local police just making things worse. Hold a full public enquiry and be damned to the Army's reputation if need be. Sorry to rant, but such things get to me.

PS I will read the final report with interest. So the details of the review are not official.

I remember this on the news, scremed of murder then and still does now, so whats going on to investigate, did it say that the Devon + Cornwall police are investigating now or what?

The initial military report declared the deaths to be suicide (although with no real motive being put forward). This despite one suffering two wounds from implausible angles from his own weapon while on guard duty and one, IIRC, being shot in the back. Being the military the enquiry was closed even to the families of the deceased, Needless to say they kicked up a fuss and eventually the police stepped in. However their investigation was with the full cooperation of the military, not independent of it, and they used many of the findings and evidence used in the military enquiry. This police enquiry (which was not a criminal investigation) was also a closed affair. Again the families were not happy, especially since specialists hired by them had questioned the conclusions drawn from what little evidence was available to them. I believe there have been other closed enquiries and/or reviews as well. The review by Devon/Cornwall is merely a review of the original police enquiry and it may well be damning. Again, it is not a criminal investigation of the deaths and again it is an internal investiagtion.

The whole thing reeks of dishonesty to be frank. It suggests that the military has not modernised at all and that policticians will still bend all the rules to avoid embarrassing the MoD. If the Army is so sure that the deaths were suicides then hold a public enquiry to show that. Instead they get a pet police force to add a gloss to the proceedings. If the kids committed suicide due to bullying etc then admit it, discipline the perps and be done with it. As a side note one instructor from the camp has been dismissed for apparently unconnected acts of bullying and threatening behaviour of a sexual nature (I cannot remember whether he was harassing male or female recruits). If the youngsters were killed then allow a criminal enquiry. If they died in accidents then accept any liability (if there is any) and own up like big boys. The MoD budget can take it.

A closed shop only suggests dishonesty, which serves no one in cases like this. Openess is what counts, especially when dealing with new recruits and when there is no threat to ongoing operations.