Army apologises to family of young private who died at notorious Deepcut Barracks after telling sister he had been shackled and humiliated

By Rod Ardehali and Alex Matthews and Richard Spillett, Crime Correspondent and Lara Keay For Mailonline
Published: 13:40, 25 January 2018

• Pte Sean Benton found in June 1995 while undergoing training at Surrey base 
  

• He was one of four young recruits to die of gunshot wounds there 1995-2002
  

• 20-year-old’s first inquest concluded suicide but new one was granted by judge
  

• Second Woking inquest heard brigadier apologise for treatment of trainees 
  

The Army has apologised to the family of a young soldier found shot at the notorious Deepcut Barracks after the High Court agreed to a second inquest into his death.

Private Sean Benton, of Hastings, East Sussex, was found with five bullet wounds to his chest in June 1995 while undergoing training at the barracks in Surrey.

The 20-year-old was the first of four young soldiers to die of gunshot wounds there between 1995 and 2002.

The initial inquest into his death lasted only a few hours, concluding he committed suicide.

But on the second day of the new hearing at Surrey Coroner’s Court an army brigadier has said young recruits were not always looked after as they should have been.

Yesterday his sister Tracey Lewis told the court he had been ‘jailed’ for 10 days for breaking a window, ‘shackled, made to parade around the canteen…embarrassed and humiliated’.

His family maintain he was subjected to severe bullying during his time there.

Today brigadier Christopher Coles, head of the Army’s Personnel Service Group, said there were several things that should have been done a lot better at the time of Pte Benton’s death.
Yesterday his sister Tracey Lewis (pictured with Sean’s twin brother Tony) told the court he had been ‘jailed’ for 10 days for breaking a window, ‘shackled, made to parade around the canteen…embarrassed and humiliated’
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Yesterday his sister Tracey Lewis (pictured with Sean’s twin brother Tony) told the court he had been ‘jailed’ for 10 days for breaking a window, ‘shackled, made to parade around the canteen…embarrassed and humiliat

Turning to the soldier’s twin brother, Tony, and his sister, Tracy Lewis, he said: ‘The set up at Deepcut and ratio of instructors to trainees was not as it should have been.

‘It led to the risk that people in training at Deepcut were not looked after… their welfare was not properly attended to as it should have been, and for that I’m sorry.

‘It came much too late in the day that that system was changed and I’m very sorry that was the case and it is something I wish wasn’t the case.’
Today Brigadier Chris Coles (pictured outside coroner’s court) apologised to Sean Benton’s family and said young recruits weren’t always looked after how they should’ve been
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Today Brigadier Chris Coles (pictured outside coroner’s court) apologised to Sean Benton’s family and said young recruits weren’t always looked after how they should’ve been

He added that ‘at times the frequency and severity of the punishments given strayed beyond what was appropriate’.

Punishments to junior offices were given out ‘informally’, he told the hearing.

The inquest heard there would have been a ratio of one corporal to 100 soldiers during the day and one to 200 at night.

Brig Coles was asked if the supervisory ratio impacted the treatment of trainees, and he said it would not have done so at all times, but added: ‘There would have been times when there was a risk when pastoral and welfare care was reduced.’

The inquest also heard there was no formal overall welfare policy at Deepcut in 1995.

Brig Coles said there was not a formally constituted welfare committee, adding: ‘I think not having something formally constituted increases the risk.’

In his statement, Brig Coles said the Ministry of Defence accepts that the issue of access to weapons should have been clarified in policy.

Brig Coles said he would accept that there would have been ‘degrees of ability and familiarity’ with the weapons.

‘As a practice in 1995 it was flawed. There were better ways of doing it,’ he said.

Brig Coles said ‘greater attention’ should have been paid to the self-harm risks to the trainees on guard duty.

The inquest heard that, on June 9, Pte Benton went to the gate and told the guard on duty that he had been sent to relieve them of guard duty.

Brig Coles said there was no explicit order made to trainees about weapons such as ‘you mustn’t hand this to someone else except in the following circumstances…’.

He said therefore he did not think any blame could be attached to the person’s decision to hand over a weapon.

He also told the inquest that excessive alcohol was ‘undoubtedly consumed’ on the base by some ‘from time to time’.

The brigadier also said instructors at the barracks thought welfare supporters were an ‘unnecessary irritation’.

He continued: ‘There was a lack of induction and people were less aware of what was available in terms of support.

‘There was a lack of confidence to provide guidance on the more sensitive issues.’

He told the inquest that at the time Pte Benton was at Deepcut there was relatively little supervision and no welfare policy was in place.

The inquest heard Deepcut was ‘not the most popular of posts’ for instructors.

‘If you are less than willing to go to Deepcut it might have an effect on your performance when you went there,’ Brig Coles told the judge.

Today brigadier Christopher Coles, head of the Army’s Personnel Service Group, said there were several things that should have been done a lot better at the time of Pte Benton’s death at Deepcut

‘But it is not fair to characterise everybody that went to Deepcut. There were some extremely good, hard-working instructors there,’ he said.

The coroner’s counsel, Bridget Dolan QC, said it raised the question of whether the best military and junior officers were sent to the barracks.

‘Not the best would find themselves at Deepcut,’ said Brig Coles.

The inquest heard that a study found, at the time, that suicide rates in the Army were twice as high than in the rest of the country.

Brig Coles said: ‘Yes there was an issue with self-harm throughout the Army in 1995 and it was increasingly prevalent.’

Families of several soldiers who were found shot dead at the barracks have maintained there were cover-ups at the initial inquests and campaigned tirelessly for new ones to be held.

Yesterday Mrs Lewis told the hearing her brother said he had been jailed by the army after being thrown through a window, and that the years of stress following Pte Benton’s death at the Surrey army camp had contributed to the early death of their father, Harry Benton.

Their Mother Linda and younger brother Lee also died without knowing their 23 year campaign for a fresh inquiry had succeeded.

‘He told me he’d been jailed for ten days,’ Mrs Lewis said.

Private Cheryl James, Private Geoff Gray and Private James Collinson were later found dead at the same barracks. Their families have maintained there were cover ups at inquests

‘Shackled, made to parade around the canteen. He was humiliated, embarrassed. I should’ve questioned him more but I was naive, didn’t know any different.’

Asked by Paul Greaney QC for the family if he had used the word shackled, Mrs Lewis said: ‘He used that word. He was made to parade around the canteen and that had embarrssed him and he felt humiliated.’

Adding: ‘He declined to eat his dinner and asked to go back to the cells.’

A second inquest for fellow recruit Cheryl James in 2016 concluded she had taken her own life.

In a statement read to the court, Mrs Lewis said the impact of her brother’s death was immediate and profound.

‘It changed the course of all of our lives, my mother never got over it and I’m sure the stress contributed to my father’s early death,’ she said.

Mrs Lewis said there had been a terrible lack of information from the army, Ministry of Defence and Surrey police following her brother’s death. ‘This made it much worse for us,’ she said in a statement in January this year.

‘I have no agenda other than to find the truth,’ she said.

Proceedings were originally conducted months after his death, with a hearing finding that he took his own life.

However, the ruling was quashed after campaigning by Pte Benton’s family, who believe he was the victim of severe bullying.

The original inquest, which was told Pte Benton was being discharged from the army after a series of disciplinary problems, took place in just a couple of hours.

But this week’s hearing is expected to last for months, with 150 witnesses being called.

Former comrade of Pte Benton, John Paul Stone, announced he would be giving evidence on Facebook.

He said: ‘I was there 94-95 with Sean, and myself and other friends will be going to give evidence. I really hope the truth comes out.

‘It’s changed radically since I was in because of the modern-day PC brigade.

‘Even though it was tougher back in the 90s that’s no excuse for the dark s*** that happened at Deepcut.’

Private Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen, North Wales, shot herself in November 1995, according to a second inquest into her death that concluded in June.

Private Geoff Gray, 17, from Hackney, east London, was found dead with two gunshot wounds to his head on September 17 2001, and Private James Collinson, 17, from Perth, was found dead with a single gunshot wound through his chin on March 23 2002.

Private Benton’s twin, Tony Benton, and sister, Tracy Lewis, went to London’s High Court after they were given permission to apply for a new hearing.

They were granted the fresh inquest in October 2016 and speaking after the ruling, Mr Benton and Mrs Lewis wept and said: ‘We are just happy and relieved. It’s been too long.’

The original inquest recorded a verdict of suicide, and a criminal investigation seven years later found no evidence of third party involvement.

Pte Benton’s twin, Tony Benton, and sister, Tracy Lewis, campaigned to get a fresh inquest into their brother’s death

But Pte Benton’s medical and mental health records were not obtained and no evidence was sought or given about his experiences at Deepcut.

Mr Justice Collins said that a considerable amount of fresh evidence had come to light which cast ‘some doubt’ on the correctness of the original finding and there was also material which concerned the care which was afforded to Private Benton by the Army at the relevant time.

The new hearing was made possible by Private Benton’s mother Linda who, before her death last year, used the Human Rights Act to access evidence held by Surrey Police.

Speaking in 2016, Mrs Lewis said: ‘Our family had just 20 years with Sean.

‘It has taken us another 21 to secure the thorough, independent inquiry we should have seen immediately after his death. For that reason, our parents are not here with us to see this day.
A former comrade of Pte Benton, John Paul Stone said ‘dark s***’ took place at Deepcut barracks

A former comrade of Pte Benton, John Paul Stone said ‘dark s***’ took place at Deepcut barracks (file photo, soldiers on exercise at the base)

‘For two decades, our family has been tormented by questions about what Sean went through at Deepcut. If his death had been properly investigated in 1995, we would have been spared years of uncertainty and pain.

‘It should be a source of huge shame to the Ministry of Defence and Surrey Police that our mother had to fight for so long – far longer than she should have had to – to force the authorities to answer basic questions. We look forward to finally discovering the truth.’

Following the first day of an inquest which will last until Easter, a spokesman for the Army said Sean Benton’s death was a tragedy and apologised to his family.

‘The Army deeply regrets the death of Private Sean Benton on the 9th June 1995. ‘His death was a terrible tragedy.

‘The Army apologises for the shortcomings at Deepcut in 1995. ‘We took too long to recognise and rectify the situation.

‘The Army is not afraid to be open and honest and to be held accountable for its actions, whether in training or on operations.

‘We care about our soldiers above all else, they are the Army.

‘Nobody wants to know more than we do what can be done to reduce the risk of a tragedy like Private Sean Benton’s death happening again.’