Seventeen British army instructors charged with assaulting recruits

Group facing total of 40 charges including battery

Soldiers march at the Army Foundation College (PA)

17 former Army instructors are due before a court martial next month charged with assaults on recruits.

The group from the Army Foundation College in Harrogate are facing a total of 40 charges including actual bodily harm and battery.

They will appear at the Bulford Court Martial Centre in Wiltshire on 21 and 22 September.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the 17 former recruit instructors will face a trial, but refused to provide names or a list of charges.

It added that it would not be appropriate to comment further.

Former British Army commander in Afghanistan Colonel Richard Kemp told The Mail on Sunday, which first reported the story: “I have never heard of a case of this scale.

“If these charges are proven it will certainly be detrimental to the army from a recruiting perspective.”