. . . and no shouting in Army recruits’ faces

SOLDIERS will no longer be shouted at or made to do more than 10 press-ups as a punishment, it has been claimed.

Army “beastings” – punishments which often take the form of excessive physical exercise – have reportedly been banned, with new rules limiting the amount of exercise soldiers will be told to do as a penalty.

The changes, reportedly introduced in a new disciplinary procedures document, come after the British Army apologised to the family of Pte Gavin Williams, who died after a “beasting” at his Wiltshire barracks in July 2006.

An inquest at the end of last year was told that Pte Williams had been forced to carry out intensive exercise for “setting off a fire extinguisher”, and turning up for duty drunk and inappropriately dressed.

The inquest heard that he died from heat exhaustion and exertion. He had also taken ecstasy a few days be- forehand. Witnesses reported seeing Pte Williams exhausted following the beasting, which included lifting weights and undertaking a gym session with a physical training instructor.

The coroner later found that the punishment was “unlawful and unauthorised”.

Pte Williams’s mother condemned the Army and said her son’s treatment had been “inhuman”.

Under the new rules, which were reported in the Sun on Sunday, soldiers will allegedly only face a 200metre run or less than one minute of exercise.

At the Army’s training centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire, out-of-hours inspections and swearing at recruits has also reportedly been banned, while instructors will not be allowed to shout in people’s faces.

An Army spokesman said: “The Army has changed its culture so that the way bad behaviour is managed is regulated, this includes restrictions on when drills can be issued as penalties.”