Families demand public inquiry over 'culture of bullying' in the Army

The army was accused yesterday of falsifying documents to cover up the death of a soldier at Deepcut barracks.

Geoff Gray, whose 17-year-old son, Geoff, was found dead with gunshot wounds last year, made the claim as pressure increased on the Government to investigate the Surrey camp. The families of 15 young soldiers ­ including four from Deepcut ­ who have died at British bases gathered at Westminster to demand a public inquiry. Alleging a "culture of bullying" in the Army, they were backed by 25 other families and said that relatives of dead soldiers were coming forward daily. They said that nearly 1,800 young servicemen and women had died outside combat since 1990.

Mr Gray questions Army records of his son's death at 1.15am on 17 September last year. Other soldiers said his son had been on duty between 11pm and 1am. The Army records him as being on duty from 1am to 3am.

Mr Gray said: "Geoff was signed out at 3am, when clearly he was dead by 1.15am." The record was "extremely neat" and "spaced out as if this may have been done afterwards", he said. "There is a strong possibility that these documents aren't the original documents. It looks as if somebody is trying to cover something up."

Brigadier Nick Cottam, the Army's personnel director, said that "too many" soldiers were dying. But he added: "I don't believe we are guilty of gross negligence or that we are not taking proper care of our soldiers as a proper employer should do."

Police are investigating the deaths of Pte Gray, from Hackney, east London; James Collinson, 17, from Perth; Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen; and Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, East Sussex.

The Deepcut investigators are to use psychological profiling to assess each soldier's state of mind. They will also use 3D-imaging to reconstruct the last known movements of the soldiers before their deaths at the barracks.