'I was beasted in army training'

By Tom Warren
BBC News

The former soldier claims "beastings" were common

Three soldiers have been cleared of causing the death of Pte Gavin Williams after an informal Army punishment known as a beasting.

Following the case, a 21-year-old who trained at the same barracks as Pte Williams has spoken to BBC News about his beasting experiences. He asked to remain anonymous.

I joined in 2004, when I was 17, as an infantry private. I did my training in Catterick for 24 weeks and I went to Tidworth for about five or six months.

I moved to Germany after that.

There were these NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) kits we had to wear, they were really heavy and you can hardly breathe in them.

I was made to run in that and do press-ups. We ran with rifles over our heads in extreme heat.

Nobody likes beasting but everyone goes through it from time to time Former soldier

This was a punishment if you were late for a parade, if you hadn't done your block jobs, if your locker wasn't up to scratch or if you started mouthing-off to the wrong person.

Psychologically you are messed up and you don't do it (the misdemeanour) again. Physically it leaves you shattered - and these beastings would go on for a long time, hours on end.

Anybody who's got a higher rank than you can order a beasting. This happened at Catterick, Tidworth and Germany. Tidworth and Germany were the worst.

Sometimes you had to bend and squat with a big log on your shoulders - that wasn't general training.

I saw people collapse from heat exhaustion. In all fairness they (senior soldiers) stopped, let them recover and beasted them the next day.

Nobody likes beasting but everyone goes through it from time to time.

A lot of the time it went over the top. Let's say you would all go out for a company run and there's a slow kid that ain't trying, they would get back to camp and they would get beasted. That would be the worst.

There's definitely a clear line between beasting and PT (physical training).

A beasting doesn't do you any physical good, it's punishment. When it comes to the run the next day you are in no state to do it.

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A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said he could not comment on individual cases.

But he added: "The Army's policy is that physical training cannot be given as a punishment, although soldiers in detention are required to do physical training.

"The MoD has introduced a dependent services complaints commissioner that provides an independent route for complaints that do not compromise the chain of command."