By Mark Nicol Defense Editor
14:34 Jul 16, 2024, updated 15:35 Jul 16, 2024
An army instructor is under investigation after video obtained exclusively by the Mail revealed he abused a black recruit.
In the video, the non-commissioned officer is first seen forcing the young soldier to lie in a puddle of water and do push-ups.
Then he leaned over the terrified intern, took off his cap and shouted that he was going to “blow his head in.”
The Mail has established that the ordeal took place on a parade ground at the army’s Infantry Training Centre (ITC) in Catterick, North Yorkshire, in recent weeks.
The Coldstream Guards non-commissioned officer would likely have escaped punishment if the incident had not been filmed on a mobile phone.
The footage prompted an internal investigation that resulted in the ITC instructor’s dismissal. Further investigations are ongoing, the Army confirmed today.
After one exercise, the NCO clearly identified the lost recruit, yelling at him to “come here” and pointing to a puddle of water.
He then shouted a series of obscenities at the young soldier as he lay face down in the water.
Meanwhile, a group of other recruits stood in formation, watching and listening to their colleague’s ordeal.
The non-commissioned officer, who apparently has the rank of corporal, then asked the recruit: “Why are you looking at me like that? Stop looking at me or I’ll smash your head in.”
The instructor grew increasingly enraged by the second and the video, verified by the Mail, captures the moment he leaned forward so his face was inches from the recruit.
He then repeatedly used the “c” word to describe the recruit, among other insults. It is unclear whether there was a racial element to how he treated the recruit.
The NCO’s behavior clearly appears to constitute a violation of the Army’s values and standards policy.
According to The Mail newspaper, he has been dismissed from the ITC pending a full investigation and could face further disciplinary action.
In recent years, suicides among young personnel have raised concerns about the difficulties the British armed forces are facing in stamping out abusive behaviour.
Just a fortnight ago, an inquest revealed that a Royal Marine trainee had been subjected to an avalanche of personal violence in the weeks before his suicide.
Connor Clarke, 18, was spotted by instructors at the commando training centre in Lympstone, Devon, in June 2021 and then fled the base overnight.
The next morning his body was found near a railway line. In his suicide note he cited some of the nicknames given to him by senior Royal Marines officers.
Violent swearing, as seen in the Mail’s video recently recorded at the ITC, was a factor in his death, the inquest heard.
Today, lawyer Emma Norton, director of the Centre for Military Justice, said: “The military rightly expects to be able to discipline its soldiers, sometimes in ways that may seem harsh to us as civilians.”
“Public humiliation, threats of violence and the use of crude and degrading language cross that line and are completely unnecessary.
“It is particularly dangerous if a young soldier is vulnerable in some way, as unfortunately many of them are.
“And that’s absolutely not the way to get the most out of your soldiers, as the best instructors will tell you.”
Today, the Army said: “We set rigorous standards for training and expect our soldiers to be resilient and robust.
“But the instructor’s behavior in the video is unacceptable and is under investigation.
“This does not reflect how the British Army trains, nor how we treat our soldiers.”
