UR TV CAST

Families of the dead men are accusing the MoD of a cover-up and will use the experts’ evidence to put pressure on the Government to launch a public inquiry into the deaths.Military sources said that Deepcut was used during the 1980s to debrief former secret service personnel who had served in Northern Ireland and needed rehabilitation.Senior detectives from Surrey police have now been called in to investigate claims that the dead soldiers may have been murdered.Last week, a Home Office pathologist exhumed the body of Private Collinson to look for vital new evidence. The body of the teenager from Perth, Scotland, was found in March this year with two bullet wounds to his head. The Surrey coroner is also gathering fresh evidence into the death of a female soldier found hanging from a door at Dalton barracks in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, on Saturday. Alison Croft, the dead woman, had no direct connection with Deepcut barracks but her colleagues would have socialised with staff at the base.The MoD has consistently claimed that the deaths of all the Deepcut victims were suicides. But the families said they have received allegations of bullying at the barracks as well as verbal and sexual harassment. At least three of the victims died from multiple gunshot wounds which is unusual in suicide cases.

At least 100 MPs have now signed a motion calling for a public inquiry and the Defence Select Committee is considering carrying out its own investigation into bullying in the army.The deaths of these young soldiers raise questions about the culture of the army. Figures show that over the past eight years there had been numerous deaths in army barracks but little or no action had been taken and no proper records had been kept. Since 1994, nearly 100 members of the armed forces have been killed through “firearms incidents” and a further 156 have committed suicide. In 2000, 192 army court martial cases involved “forms of violent crime” and 34 concerned “forms of sexual crime”.All the dead privates were at the start of their army careers but several were already facing uncertain futures. Friends of Pte Collinson say he was the target of bullying and Pte Sean Benton was on the verge of being discharged from the army for breach of discipline.However, there is nothing in the personal history of Pte Gray to suggest he would take his own life – no broken relationships, no history of depression.

In fact, Pte Gray was so enthusiastic about army life that his parents had trouble stopping him talking about his experiences “He was a typical 17-year-old party animal. My son did not shoot himself – he was murdered,” said Mr Gray.All the anecdotal evidence suggests someone else fired the shots which ended the teenager’s life. At least four witnesses saw a figure running from where Pte Gray’s body was found. There is also evidence that someone moved his body.”Maybe he stood up to a bully and paid the ultimate price,” said Mr Gray from Hackney, London.