A senior army officer has conceded that he ordered a young soldier who died after undergoing a gruelling “beasting” punishment to be brought to him “hot and sweaty”. But Lt Col Mark Davis insisted thathe had not meant for Pte Gavin Williams to be “beasted” or “yakked” – which involved him being marched vigorously around a parade ground on a hot summer’s day.
Williams, 22, from south Wales, collapsed of heat illness and died after being punished for misbehaviour at an officers’ ball at Lucknow barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire. Three soldiers involved in the incident were prosecuted for manslaughter but acquitted by a jury.
After the verdicts, the trial judge, Mr Justice Royce, expressed concern that while three non-commissioned officers were prosecuted, Davis, their commander who at the time was a captain, was being promoted. Appearing at Williams’ inquest in Salisbury, Davis said he had meant the soldier to be marched rapidly to his office. Asked about the punishment that actually took place, Davis said: “That was absolutely not what I was intending.”
Questioned by the assistant coroner, Alan Large, about the phrase “hot and sweaty”, he said: “I don’t know why I used that phrase. It was a stupid colloquial phrase. If you look at my statements, my language is littered throughout it.” He denied he had also said he wanted Williams “panting like a dog”.
While in his office, Davis removed Williams’ badge from his cap. Davis said: “I thought he had embarrassed the regiment, so I took the cap badge off him. It was a pretty stupid thing to do.”
He said that while in his office, there was nothing to suggest that Williams had been mistreated. Davis added: “He was apologetic. He was a soldier who knew he was in trouble. I would say sheepish is a good description.”
Davis said he would have intervened if he had known that a soldier was being mistreated: “I still knew what was right and wrong and if I saw a soldier mistreated, I would have intervened. So while I would have heard soldiers marching, it haunts me and maybe I should have seen something that I should have picked up on. It’s something I am guilty of.”
He added: “If I saw a soldier marching in an unusual place and clearly suffering as a result of the treatment being given, I would have intervened.”
Williams’ family has campaigned for the inquest to be reopened after three soldiers involved in the incident, which happened in July 2006, were cleared of manslaughter. The inquest will hear from more than 100 witnesses, and Large has made it clear he wants to make sure that lessons have been learned following Williams’ death.
In the days before the punishment, Williams had been drinking heavily and may have taken drugs, the inquest has heard. He turned up for guard duty wearing flip-flops, a muscle vest and gold necklace, and also let off a fire extinguisher at the officers’ ball, which led to him being ordered to report for disciplinary proceedings on the Monday morning.
A colleague, Michael Matthews, described how Williams underwent a “stupid” type of punishment marching known as “yakking”, which entails a soldier being required to walk a few paces, then march on the spot.
Matthews said: “Sweat was coming off his face. He looked in a shit state ... you could see the sweat coming off him. You could see he was draining out. I remember thinking: ‘It’s a bit hot for that type of punishment.’ Gavin obviously did something wrong, which is why he was being marched, but it did seem to be going on a little bit too much in the heat. Usually they take into consideration the heat. There are health and safety regulations.”
Davis strongly criticised two of the soldiers involved in the punishment of Williams, Sergeants Russell Price and Paul Blake. He said: “I knew what was right and wrong and what they did wasn’t right. I feel a bit betrayed by Price and Blake, because I trusted them implicitly. Those things that were done to that soldier were not right. I never intended that or contemplated that happening.”
In her witness statement to the inquest, the dead soldier’s mother, Debra Williams, 48, has described how she had waited nine and a half years to hear the truth about what happened to her son and that memories of seeing his lifeless body continued to haunt her.
She said: “I have been completely devastated by Gavin’s death. I miss him and think about him every day. I find it difficult to sleep or eat since Gavin’s death. I have a mental picture of him being punished, and have vivid nightmares about him. The memory of seeing Gavin’s lifeless body with marks around his face still haunts me.”
The inquest continues.
