Deepcut - The Shame of the British Army

June 26, 2016 11:16 AM

BBC - Cheryl James: Deepcut soldier's death was suicide, coroner rules - "The death of an army recruit from a gunshot wound to the head at Deepcut barracks was suicide, a coroner has ruled. The head of the army has apologised “unreservedly” to the parents of Pte Cheryl James as he vowed the service would be sure to learn from the inquest into her death at Deepcut barracks. Pte Cheryl James, 18, was found dead with a bullet wound to the head in 1995. She was one of four recruits to die at the base in seven years. Coroner Brian Barker QC said the wound was "self-inflicted" and Pte James fired the gun intentionally. Her father said the family did not believe evidence led to verdict.""

BBC - Who were the Deepcut four? "Between 1995 and 2002, four young Army recruits died from gunshot wounds in unexplained circumstances at the Deepcut Barracks in Surrey.

The Army insists the deaths were all suicides, but each of the families disagreed. Now, a long-awaited fresh inquest into the death of one of the young soldiers - Private Cheryl James - is under way."

Guardian:

Family may be granted fresh Deepcut inquest into Sean Benton death

"The family of a second young soldier who died at Deepcut barracks in Surrey might be granted a second inquest into his death.

The brother and sister of Pte Sean Benton who was found with five bullet wounds to his chest at the base 21 years ago have been given permission to apply to the high court for the original inquest to be quashed and a fresh one ordered."

Parents of dead Deepcut soldier get apology from army "The head of the army has apologised ‘unreservedly’ to the parents of Private Cheryl James for duty of care failings in 1995"

"The head of the army has apologised “unreservedly” to the parents of Pte Cheryl James as he vowed the service would be sure to learn from the inquest into her death at Deepcut barracks."

More on Deepcut from the Guardian here

posted by marienbad (5 comments total)

Those poor families. Particularly the Bentons, whose immediate reaction must have been how do you shoot yourself five times in the chest?
posted by adept256 at 11:29 AM on June 26, 2016 [8 favorites]

Private Eye has been all over this fiasco for years. You can see the articles here
posted by chavenet at 12:05 PM on June 26, 2016 [6 favorites]

The standard weapon of the UK armed forces since the late 1980s is the SA80 assault rifle. With fully automatic fire selected (which we were told normally not to use, but it's available at the flick of a switch) it fires 600-750 rounds per minute, i.e 10-12 rounds per second.

It's a short weapon that, thanks to its bullpup configuration (trigger group forward of the magazine housing) can easily be held with the muzzle against your chest whilst being able to reach the trigger. Select full auto, cock it, select safety off and then hold it so and squeeze the trigger, and the time to fire five rounds through yourself would be under half a second.

It is, in fact, quite feasible to shoot yourself several times with a fully-automatic weapon.

(I am not commenting on whether or not this was suicide, just pointing out multiple gunshot wounds are not automatically inconsistent with shooting oneself.)
posted by Major Clanger at 12:58 PM on June 26, 2016 [22 favorites]

Chavenet - yes, I have been following the Private Eye coverage for a long time, and their recent coverage has been excellent.
posted by marienbad at 1:09 PM on June 26, 2016

.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:14 PM on June 26, 2016