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  • 标题:Sunday Mirror Investigates: DEEPCUT II
  • 作者:EXCLUSIVE By RUPERT HAMER Defence Correspondent
  • 期刊名称:Sunday Mirror
  • 印刷版ISSN:0956-8077
  • 出版年度:2005
  • 卷号:Dec 11, 2005
  • 出版社:Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd.

Sunday Mirror Investigates: DEEPCUT II

EXCLUSIVE By RUPERT HAMER Defence Correspondent

A SECOND Deepcut-style scandal has engulfed the Army after two teenage recruits killed themselves at the same training camp.

A 19-year-old female trainee and an 18-year-old male soldier were both found hanged in their accommodation blocks at the Royal School of Signals base in Blandford, Dorset, just nine months apart.

Last night the mother of Signaller Krystle Cookson, who died in May 2004, said she believed her daughter was hounded to her death by bullies.

The death in February this year of Signaller Michael Williams, a cheerful and popular recruit, remains a mystery to his parents and the police who investigated it.

These latest revelations could further damage the Army's reputation following the Deepcut scandal where four recruits were killed or committed suicide between 1995 and 2002.

The Sunday Mirror today also reveals how:

- TWO soldiers at the base have attempted to take overdoses this year while a third cut her wrists.

-THREE soldiers have been given "final warnings" after being investigated for bullying fellow recruits.

-ONE soldier was jailed at Colchester military prison in Essex for carrying out verbal and physical abuse against a fellow recruit at Blandford this year.

Brigadier John Terrington, commandant of the camp, immediately ordered an investigation into bullying and brought in extra staff to supervise trainees.

Last night Krystle's mother Patricia called for a Government-led inquiry into bullying across the armed forces.

"My daughter was home about three or four weeks before she died," said Mrs Cookson, of Middlesbrough. She said, 'The other girls are ganging up on me'. I asked who, but she wouldn't tell.

"I knew she'd had problems with this one girl. She said 'you don't know what it's like when the other girls are ganging up on you.'

"I told her I was going to speak to somebody in the Army but she begged me not to. She said 'no, no...when I get back it will be worse for me. I'll be OK'."

The inquest into the signaller's death recorded an open verdict but it emerged that Krystle had a row with a fellow recruit before hanging herself on May 14.

Mrs Cookson, 49, said: "I knew about the other girl for months. Krystle didn't ever want to speak out because she had complained about a corporal who had harassed her at another base the year before.

"She knew she'd be branded a troublemaker and she said 'you don't grass on your mates.' I said; 'If they're your mates, God help you.'

She added: "I can't believe that nobody did anything wrong. Krystle was just not the type to take her own life. She was a sporty, independent woman who was actually doing very well. This was not examined enough.

"I've met other parents, including some from Deepcut, and there is clearly a problem there. You want justice but you don't know what steps you can take. Some parents have remortgaged their homes to pay solicitors, but I've only got a council house."

Michael's mother Diane, 43, from Llanelli in South Wales, refused to believe that her son would have killed himself. She said: "I never saw him upset or depressed about anything. He was always such a positive and joyful person."

Diane, whose son David, 24, also joined the Army, added: "Suicide was not the cause of Michael's death. It is all so unfair." She fears that Michael's death was caused by a drunken prank that went wrong and is angry that the Army allowed him to binge drink on the night he died.

Michael's stepfather Gary, who has looked after him since he was a toddler, said: "I helped bring Michael up since he was four years old and we were all proud of the way he had turned out. Then we hand him over to the Army and they couldn't even look after him for a year." Last week, during our visit to the base, Lieutenant Colonel Matt Fensom, commanding officer of 11 Signal Regiment at Blandford, said there had been three "self-harm cases" in the base in the last year. He said that last month a 17-year-old had taken an overdose of migraine tablets.

The recruit was admitted to hospital and after treatment asked to be discharged from the Army. In March this year a 19-year-old female recruit also took an overdose - but was spotted by a colleague, treated and later left the Army. Three months later a 20-year-old female rookie cut her wrists in front of a comrade and was later discharged. Lt Col Fensom said: "These were not serious attempts at suicide and were dealt with quickly by staff."

Jim Gray, 37, a senior NCO at the camp, said: "In a year and a half I have looked into three cases of bullying. Two were low level verbal abuse and the signallers responsible were dealt with quickly. The third was physical and verbal abuse. The soldier responsible was disciplined and served a period in prison. Even so I would say bullying is rare on the camp. It will not be tolerated and is stamped on if we discover it."

The latest scandal comes seven months after the Sunday Mirror revealed how four British soldiers had carried out suicide bids at a Pioneer Regiment base at Bicester, Oxfordshire. One, Private Gregory Bruce, 28, hanged himself.

Copyright 2005 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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