A young soldier who died after being subjected to a punishment known as “beasting” on a searingly hot summer’s day had told officers he did not feel up to the gruelling penalty, an inquest has heard.
Pte Gavin Williams, 22, hid when he was fetched to undergo the punishment at a barracks in Wiltshire and said he could not cope with it as he had been drinking heavily the night before.
One colleague who witnessed the beasting described how Williams looked as if he was “draining out” and expressed surprise that such a punishment had been meted out on a hot summer’s day.
Williams’ family campaigned for his inquest to be reopened after three soldiers involved in the tragedy were cleared of manslaughter after a crown court trial.
The inquest in Salisbury is to hear from more than 100 witnesses and the assistant coroner, Alan Large, has made it clear he wants to ensure lessons have been learned from Williams’ death.
Williams collapsed at Lucknow barracks in Tidworth, Wiltshire, in July 2006. Tests showed his body temperature was 41.7C, well above the norm of 37C.
The inquest was told that in the days before the punishment he had been drinking heavily and may have taken drugs. He turned up for a guard duty wearing flip-flops, a “muscle vest” and gold necklace and also let off a fire extinguisher at an officers’ ball, which led to him being ordered to report for disciplinary proceedings on the Monday morning.
Pte Christopher Evans, one of those ordered to help fetch him from his room for the beasting, said he heard Williams tell a lance corporal: “I don’t feel up to it. I drank 20 bottles of Stella last night.” The lance corporal is said to have replied: “You might as well go and take your punishment.”
His colleague and friend, Adam Evans, said he later saw Williams being marched very fast in a circuit. When he paused, the soldier supervising him asked: “Did I tell you to fucking stop?” and ordered him to “get your knees up”.
Later Evans said he heard shouting and screaming and saw Williams carrying a sack outstretched in both hands and then holding it above his head. “I could see Gavin looked weak and exhausted,” Evans added.
Another colleague, Michael Matthews, described how Williams underwent a “stupid” type of punishment marching known as “yakking” in which a soldier is 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.”
In 2008, three soldiers were cleared by a crown court jury of Williams’ manslaughter. According to the prosecution he collapsed and died of heatstroke. Tests also showed he had ecstasy in his body.
After the verdict the trial judge, Mr Justice Royce, criticised the army for “beasting” and expressed concern as to why the trio had appeared in the dock rather than the officer who commanded them.
The judge pointed out that while three non-commissioned officers had been prosecuted, their commander, the adjutant Capt Mark Davis, who ordered that Williams be brought to him “hot and sweaty” and “panting like a dog” after the incident with the fire extinguisher, was in the process of being promoted. Davis, now a lieutenant colonel, is due to give evidence on Thursday.
In her witness statement to the inquest, the dead soldier’s mother, Debra Williams, 48, said 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.
