Memorandum from Mr Geoff and Mrs Diane
Gray
We are the parents of Geoff Gray who died at
Deepcut barracks on 17 September 2001. We are writing to request
a meeting with the Members of the Defence Select Committee in
order that we may be consulted on the remit of your proposed inquiry.
We are grateful for the interest of the Select
Committee in army bullying and wider issues arising from the Surrey
Police report. We hope you may contribute to the resolution of
these problems.
Victims and their families have suffered badly
over the years. We are not looking for sympathy. Acknowledgement
is important but we are looking for active involvement and positive
outcomes.
We have spent two-and-a-half years trying to
find out how our son lost his life. Army and police failed to
provide an effective investigation. Documents were destroyed;
examination of forensic evidence not carried out. Our wishes have
been ignored; we have been misinformed and misled.
In the course of our quest for truth, We have
become aware of more and more families in a similar position.
Across regiments and across the country, service families suffering
the pain of bereavement are experiencing their grief compounded
by failure to investigate, failure to accept responsibility and
failure to change.
The problems go far wider than one barracks.
In 2003, a number of the Families concerned adopted the name:
"Deepcut & Beyond".
We want to know the truth about our children's
death. We want to see justice and to have those responsible held
to account. We want to see change and an end to this needless
loss of life. We do not believe that anything short of a judicial
public inquiry can satisfy these demands. Having investigated
four deaths at Deepcut, the Surrey police have reached a similar
conclusion.
In pressing for such an inquiry, the Families
have been grateful for public support and backing of newspapers
and media. More than 200 Members of Parliament signed an Early
Day Motion calling for a public inquiry.
We hope the Defence Select Committee will assist
us in persuading the Government of justice of our case. We hope
you are prepared to listen.
March 2004
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