Police to handle army deaths after Deepcut

Police are to take over investigations into military deaths following concerns over inquiries into how four soldiers died at the Deepcut barracks in Surrey.

The Association of Chief Police Officers said yesterday that officers should not hand over investigations to military authorities without hard evidence that a death was suicide.

Military police believe the four solders shot dead at Deepcut committed suicide but their families say they may have been murdered. Firearms experts have cast doubt on evidence that their wounds were self-inflicted.

Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Denholm, of Surrey Police, said yesterday that an independent ballistics expert was being recruited to give a final verdict on the deaths of privates Sean Benton, Cheryl James, Geoff Gray, and James Collinson.

He said the new approach was one of the "lessons learned" from Deepcut, where police had accepted military assumptions of suicide. "Now the primacy for the initial investigation in an Army camp rests with the police," he said.

Geoff Gray's father, also Geoff, welcomed the move but said police had always been supposed to take a lead role in investigations.

John Cooper, the barrister representing the Deepcut families, said yesterday they were continuing their investigation but wanted a public inquiry.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman said procedures had been clarified, but that the lead role of civilian forces had always been clear.