Army abuse inquiry collapses

One of the largest inquiries into the alleged abuse of teenage army recruits in Britain has collapsed after the Royal Military Police bungled the investigation.

A judge branded the three-year police probe “seriously flawed” as he halted the first of three court martials amid problems of missing evidence and claims that witnesses were forced to make statements.

There are also fears the Royal Military Police may have mishandled other cases, such as Operation Northmoor – the inquiry into alleged abuses by British soldiers in Afghanistan – and there are now calls for senior RMP officers to be investigated.

It was alleged that 16 instructors, all sergeants or corporals, illtreated 28 school leavers while posted to the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

The recruits told the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, the instructors would get them fired up by making them play British Bulldog, by putting on “war faces” and getting them running between two hills, known as “heaven” and “hell”, ahead of bayonet training during a battle camp at Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, in the summer of 2014.

It was then claimed that the teenagers, who were aged 16 or 17, were slapped or punched in the face, spat at, grabbed by the throat, were “clotheslined”, had their faces submerged in mud or were ordered to eat animal manure.

But after eight days, the prosecution offered no evidence in 24 of the 31 charges the first 10 defendants faced – meaning five were acquitted and walked free from court.

The trial of the remaining five instructors continued for another day until Assistant Judge Advocate General Alan Large stayed proceedings, ruling they could not get a fair trial.

Following his ruling, in which he condemned the Royal Military Police for a “seriously flawed” and “totally blinkered approach” to the investigation, the prosecution indicated it would offer no evidence against a further six instructors.

Restrictions remained in force until the conclusion of the final court martial featuring two of the defendants from the first trial but at the 11th hour it was also dropped.

All criminal proceedings are now over.

Picture: PA. Junior soldiers march on the parade square during their graduation ceremony at the Army Foundation College, Harrogate, in 2014.