Family of second soldier who died at notorious barracks fights for fresh inquest
Sean Benton, 20, was one of four privates who died from gunshot wounds while on guard duty at Deepcut barracks
THE family of a second soldier who died in mysterious circumstances at Deepcut barracks has been given consent to apply for a fresh inquest.
Private Sean Benton was found dead with five gunshot wounds in June 1995 while on guard at a perimeter fence.
Human rights group Liberty has said the Attorney General has given the family permission to apply to the High Court more than 20 years after Pte Benton’s death.
An earlier inquest recorded a verdict of suicide on the 20-year-old soldier from Hastings, East Sussex.
Privates Geoff Gray and James Collinson, both aged 17 years, also died from gunshot wounds, sparking allegations of bullying and abuse at the Surrey barracks.
It comes after coroner Brian Barker at a second inquest into Pte Cheryl James’s death concluded she had committed suicide.
The teenager was found with a single gunshot wound to her head while on lone guard duty and armed with an SA80 rifle, on November 27, 1995.
A second inquest into her death was ordered last July after the first verdict was quashed by the High Court.
A ballistics expert for the families of the four deceased claimed in 2003 that it was unlikely that any of the soldiers had shot themselves.
Liberty, on behalf of Pte Benton's twin brother Tony and his sister Tracy Lewis, lodged an application with the Attorney General in July 2015 requesting that the original inquest of July 1995 be quashed and a fresh one ordered.
It said since his death, many people had stated publicly and to his family that they believed Pte Benton from Hastings, East Sussex had been the victim of physical and psychological bullying at the barracks.
Mrs Lewis said: "We have been overwhelmed and disturbed by all the details of the shameful environment at Deepcut which have finally come to light through the Cheryl James inquest - it is terrible to think of Sean alone there.
"More than two decades after our brother died - and having lost both our parents in recent years - Tony and I are determined to find out what happened to Sean.
"Sean's family have waited 21 years for this moment - and it is a source of immense sadness that his parents are not here to take this vital next step in their search for justice. If Sean's death had been properly and independently investigated in 1995, decades of pain and uncertainty would have been avoided."
Pte Gray's mother Diane Gray is also fighting for a fresh inquest into her son's death.
After the conclusion of Pte James' inquest the head of the army, General Sir Nick Carter, said a public inquiry into the barracks should be held if it is the "best method" of getting to the truth.
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