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Deepcut Barracks, officially called the Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, and formally known as Blackdown Barracks, is a British Army barracks situated near Camberley, Surrey, England, and is the headquarters of the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC). The barracks was previously the Headquarters of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps until the formation of the RLC in 1993. The Directorate Royal Logistic Corps is based in Dettingen House.
The barracks is also the location of the School of Logistics, which trains the officers and soldiers of the RLC in a range of logistical skills.
Deaths at Deepcut Barracks
Several suspicious deaths have occurred among soldiers at the barracks. The police reports stated that they were suicides, but the families have rejected this and continue to call for a public enquiry.
In June 1995, Private Sean Benton, of Hastings, East Sussex, was found dead at Deepcut barracks with five bullet wounds to his chest. The coroner concluded that he had committed suicide. Ballistics tests suggested that only one bullet was fired from close range and the others from a distance.
In November 1995, Private Cheryl James, of Llangollen, was found dead with a single bullet wound to her head at the headquarters of the Royal Logistic Corps. However, the coroner concluded an open verdict.
In September 2001, Private Geoff Gray, from Hackney, East London, was found with two gunshot wounds to his head while on guard duty. The coroner recorded an open (i.e. inconclusive) verdict after hearing from witnesses that a figure was seen running away after the shots were fired. An independent ballistics expert hired by the BBC concluded that it would have been impossible for Gray to have killed himself. On 23 March 2002, Private James Collinson, from Perth, was found dead with a single gunshot wound while on guard duty at the barracks. The Army said that he killed himself, but his parents do not accept this, insisting he had been happy. No inquest was held.
Surrey Police have re-opened the investigation into the deaths of Gray and Collinson at the insistence of their families.
Kevin McNamara MP hosted a meeting on 10 June 2002 where the families of the four soldiers killed at Deepcut requested that a public enquiry be held into the matter.
On 4 July 2002, the House of Commons Defence Select Committee announced that it would conduct an investigation after the police finished their investigation. Surrey Police stated that the deaths were being reviewed.
Later, on 25 July 2002, the Army admitted that it had destroyed some of the forensic evidence available to Surrey Police by destroying some of the bloodstained uniforms of the dead soldiers.
The body of Private James Collinson was exhumed on 3 October 2002, in Scotland, by forensic pathologists from the University of Glasgow to try and determine how he died. Evidence uncovered showed bruising on his hands, and a fracture of the jaw. The original post-mortem had not uncovered this evidence.
External links
"Deepcut Barracks"