Instructor was psychopath, police told
A Deepcut instructor who beasted Sean Benton was described as psychopathic by a fellow recruit. Sgt Andrew Gavaghan was a bully with a split personality, the second inquest into the death of Pte Benton heard. Former soldier Russell Uridge contacted police when they reopened the investigations into the deaths of all four Deepcut soldiers. Four young trainees were found shot dead at the Surrey army camp between 1995 and 2002. "When he went into these rages, he individually beasted people which could be bullying," Mr Uridge told the inquest. He said Pte Benton was often picked out for beasting - an army term used to describe using hard physical exercise as a punishment. Another former Deepcut soldier said Sgt Gavaghan as a Jekyll and Hyde character who was brutal to everybody.
Police tried to massage statement
The second inquest into the death of Pte Benton heard when the former soldier contacted them, Surrey police tried to massage his statement to confirm Pte Benton was unstable. Surrey police tried to paint him as bipolar, Mr Uridge said. Pte Benton was shot five times in the chest in 1995 and the soldier who was with him hours before said police tried to talk him into agreeing he was unstable.
Sean Benton
Former RLC soldier Russell Uridge told the inquest at Woking he had cause for concern after reading the statement Surrey police took from him when they re-opened their investigation into the deaths of four young soldiers at Deepcut in 2003. "There was some cause for concern," Mr Uridge said. "I wouldn't have signed it if it was inaccurate. "It was taken away and typed up. "When I read it, it didn't feel like it was the whole thing." Mr Uridge said he had been interviewed by Surrey police in 2003 and again a decade later. After searching their records in the lunch break, Surrey police confirmed they had revisited Mr Uridge in 2014 when the family of Sean Benton started the process of getting a second inquest into his death which started at the Surrey Coroner's Court last week. "When it came to the split personality thing, they were steering me to say Benton was bipolar and up and down," he said. Mr Uridge confirmed he had been referring to Sgt Andrew Gavaghan as having a split personality. "It was drip, drip, drip. "Not words being twisted or put in my mouth but it felt like it was being massaged a little bit. "In my opinion, you make a statement. "You do not try to fit in with what others had said. "The 2003 investigation, from my perspective, was not up to standard, I suppose."
Colour blind
Mr Uridge said Pte Benton was beasted by by Sgt Andrew Gavaghan after making a joke about being colour blind the day before he was killed. Pte Benton returned late for a parade and in the wrong uniform, the court in Woking heard. Sean Benton joked the reason he was colour blind after dressing in the wrong uniform. "What made it even funnier was, we were all dressed in green," a former soldier who was in the same troop at Deepcut as Pte Benton. Former solider, Russell Uridge, told Surrey police in 2002 the sergeant sent Pte Benton to the guard room for a beasting and he saw him later still being punished. The inquest continues.