The final police report into the deaths of four soldiers at Deepcut has uncovered a series of lessons the Army has failed to learn. Liz Lamb reports.

EVERY soldier who enlists in the Army knows life will be tough. After all, recruits are trained to become killers, trained to fight for their country when it goes to war. But does that mean soldiers should be subjected to systematic bullying, abused mentally and physically, forced to carry out sexual favours on demand?

For the parents of the Deepcut Four, their tireless quest to discover the truth about how their children died has uncovered a murky world of abuse that appears to mirror life in other military camps around the UK.

Since they first went public with their stories, about 50 families from across the country have come forward to raise their concerns about deaths and bullying at other bases, including Catterick Garrison, in North Yorkshire.

They formed a group, Deepcut and Beyond, to fight for answers about why there are so many non-combat deaths in the Army and to discover why so many recruits are being let down by a British institution.

Surrey Police's fifth and final report, published yesterday, into the deaths at Deepcut only goes to echo what the families have been saying all along: that the Army is failing in its duty of care.

Annabelle Ewing MSP, who represents one of the families, says: "The report makes grim reading for the Ministry of Defence. The young soldiers joined the Army to serve their country, but the Army failed in its duty of care towards them."

The report's findings have already led to the Army making changes in the way it looks after young soldiers, but, as detectives admit, there remains much more to be done.

The police investigation into the deaths was re-opened in summer 2002 after extensive pressure from relatives, MPs and the media. The families said they had been left with a series of unanswered questions and they refused to toe the official Army line that their children had taken their own lives.

Each of the four soldiers who died at the barracks was found with gunshot wounds - three had been on patrol with live ammunition at the time while another had access to a weapon.

PRIVATE Sean Benton was the first soldier to lose his life. The 20-year-old from Hastings, East Sussex, died in June 1995 from five gunshot wounds to the chest. Ballistics tests showed four bullets had been fired from a distance and only one from close range. An inquest recorded a verdict of suicide.

On November 27, 1995, Cheryl James, 18, of Wales, was found in woodland with a single bullet wound to her head and an SA80 rifle by her side. An inquest recorded an open verdict. It was later claimed she had been forced into a sexual relationship with a corporal.

In September 2001, 17-year-old Geoff Gray, of Seaham, County Durham, died from two gunshot wounds to the head after he was found at the perimeter fence. Witnesses reported hearing a man running away. A military investigation concluded that his death was suicide but an inquest recorded an open verdict.

A year later, on March 23, James Collinson, 17, of Perth, died from a single gunshot wound. His body was exhumed in October 2002. A date is yet to be set for an inquest.

In September last year, Surrey Police concluded its 15-month investigation into the deaths. During the course of the inquiry 900 witnesses were interviewed and 1,500 statements were taken, but detectives said there was no evidence to indicate any prospect of a prosecution directly related to the deaths.

Following the release of the findings, Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police, Bob Quick, said a final report would detail lessons the Army had failed to learn, lessons that had been raised before, some as far back as 15 years ago.

"Surrey Police remains concerned that more needs to be done to address areas of risk and strengthen the care for young soldiers in training,", he added.

The report - described by Kevin McNamara MP as devastating - catalogued instances of bullying at the camp "in sufficient quantities to raise concern".

In one instance, police learned that a female soldier had woken in the night to find a corporal abusing her. When she complained to her supervisor it was ''laughed off as a joke''. In another case, a male private claimed that, in 1999, he found himself regularly assaulted by a non-commissioned officer and, on one occasion, by two NCOs.

DURING the investigation, police asked the Army for details of specific cases of self-harm at Deepcut, only to be told there were no reliable records. A study of guardroom logs showed a total of 59 such incidents but according to the report, this figure is thought to represent "only half the true level".

Among its conclusions the report questions the practice of sending young recruits out on guard armed with live weapons. The report says: ''While access to firearms and live ammunition is a prerequisite to soldiering, there is a particular threat posed by issuing arms and ammunition to young vulnerable trainees so that they may mount guard duty."

Surrey Police concludes the report by recommending a broader inquiry into self-harm, suicide and unexplained deaths be held. An independent system of oversight to protect vulnerable recruits must also be set up as well as new arrangements for accountability, it says.

The Deepcut and Beyond families hope the decision of the Defence Select Committee to hold a public inquiry will also take into account incidents at other military bases across the UK. Lynn Farr, whose son, Daniel, died at Catterick, in 1997, says: "It is not just Deepcut, we have evidence it is happening at other bases. The Army should be answerable for those too."

The Defence Select Committee will now decide the way forward. Chairman of the group, Bruce George MP, says they are yet to determine the terms of reference, but it is expected it will look at recruitment, selection, training and discipline.

For the families of the dead soldiers much of yesterday's news contained revelations they had heard many times before . "It gives me absolutely no satisfaction to say I told you so,", says Des James, father of Cheryl. "I have been banging on since the mid-90s about the culture of bullying and intimidation in the Army and now this has backed that up."

The saddest conclusion is that their loved ones' deaths could have been prevented. "One cannot help but be moved by the grief and suffering of the parents of soldiers who have died,", says Bob Quick. "Not in combat where the risks are understood, but in training and in circumstances that lead to the belief that these deaths could be avoided."

Detectives admitted in the report the four deaths were originally not properly investigated - when evidence and events were fresh in peoples' minds. The families now believe, almost two years after their quest began, they will never discover the truth. Yvonne Collinson, mother of James, says: "It still doesn't tell us how the four of them died. And that was our ultimate goal, to find answers to how they died."