Norfolk Marine Inquest: 'No requirement to shout and swear at recruits' says military boss
An inquest is looking at the non suspicious death of a trainee during the early phase of training
An inquest today heard there was 'no requirement for shouting and swearing' at recruits during Royal Navy training - following the death of an 18 year old.
Connor Clark was just weeks into his military career when his body was discovered on the tracks adjacent to the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, on the morning of June 12, 2021.
The 18-year-old, from Norfolk, had completed the third of his four-week 'recruit orientation phase' course that all Marines undertake before they begin their initial training when he died.
During the inquest, the coroner heard from other recruits who described being shouted at and sworn at - as staff tried to 'target weaknesses'.
Lieutenant Colonel Innes Catton, the current commander of the military training site, said: "There's no requirement for that, it is not expected and we don't want that."
He reminded the coroner that the course was designed to be physically and psychologically challenging and some of the youngsters they see on training could be in active situations within three months.
The inquest was told that training elements - ie shouting - was 'down to judgement' in specific circumstances but the ultimate aim was to help trainees 'realise their potential'. Lieutenant Colonel Catton outlined updates in training for instructors in recent years and work to ensure warning signs of recruits struggling were recognised.
When pressed again on the use of shouting and swearing by the coroner, Lieutenant Colonel Catton said that 'falls outside of those behaviours we're trying to inspire'.
The inquest was told about both 'group punishments', which can occur within the guidelines for the training , but also 'positive' rewards. The coroner was told 'punishments are part of the approach but not the whole of the approach' and the value of praise from a senior can be 'worth more than 17 Dominoes pizzas being delivered'.
He says 'delayed shoreleave' was always a better sanction as a posed to physical punishments - as recruits have high fitness levels - and at the start of training they are told 'this is not an invidual sport, it's a team sport and each one of you will have a bad day."
During the final day of the inquest, Senior Coroner Philip Spinney heard from Captain Matthew Turner, the regional clinical director for South West England who is in charge of overseeing governance and assurance across 20 medical centres- who outlined policies and procedures.
Afterwards the principal medical officer at the site gave evidence - who joined in September 2021, but had spent 20 years in four guises at Lympstone – after he conducted a review in the autumn into aspects of the medical department.
The 'MO' said he had searched records for the three years after the death of Clark showing two incidents of self harm being recorded among trainees - citing hitting walls or a tree stump out of frustration for not making the grade, but acknowledging they were not directly comparable.
He said self harm was 'unusual' and mental health screening questionnaires and monitoring is undertaken but added the 'risk is unlikely to be zero' due to recruits leaving home and having new location, food, exercise and sleep routines and he tells staff to 'maintain suspicion at all times' as they monitor their ongoing duty of care.
There was a discussion of whether a case conference with him and another staff 'would have allowed a plan' to be formed after Clark raised concerns. The MO said case conferences, which do not require only medical staff to call, were now more widely understood.
Days before Connor Clark's death he had misplaced a blank firing adapter for his rifle and had made comments about being a "failure" and the "worst recruit".
The inquest heard the Royal Marine recruit received more "thrashings" than anyone else and was shouted and sworn at by non-commissioned officers.
The inquest in Exeter heard recruits would collectively receive a troop "thrashing" - a type of physical punishment such as running, press-ups or squat thrusts - from the corporal instructors if an individual made a mistake.
Recruits described the instructors being "in their face" shouting and swearing calling them a "f** twat, prick or punk" and "c***".
They said that many of them made mistakes, but Mr Clark did not seem to improve as time went on.
"Everyone else seemed to be progressing but not him," said recruit Zac Mizzoni-Dalton.
"I wouldn't say he was singled out, but in the last week because he was repeatedly failing to meet the high standards, he received many more thrashings than anybody else in the troop. This was apparent to everyone."
Fellow recruit Stuart Whitelaw said the instructors would "target the weakness not the person".
"It was never personal. I would say the trainers really put pressure on Connor's weaknesses and would shout at him more. He had more thrashings than anyone," he said.
"The trainers could be really intimidating by getting in your face - shouting, swearing and being aggressive.
"They were like that with everyone, not just Connor. He certainly seemed to receive more thrashings than anyone else in the troop."
Recruit Jack Bridges said: "In training you get told you are the worst troop ever to come through here, you're useless and things like this.
"They say it to every troop and everyone who goes through there. A lot of it is part and parcel of being in the military."
Aaron Golding said the other recruits were helping Mr Clark with organising his personal kit.
"It was if he no longer cared about failing and would sit on his bed disinterested and understandably they found this frustrating," he said.
"Everyone knew by this time he was the only one failing. I recall it was the troop that got punished and not necessarily Connor as an individual.
"The other thing the corporals would do was shout a lot, especially when we were marching.
"If someone went out of step, they would get called all kinds of names and get shouted things like, 'I am going to bang out your Dad and f your family, you c'.
"We do not take this personally because we knew it was part of the game they played. These rants were never a personal attack."
Recruit Patrick Service said: "They would get in your face and tell you that you wouldn't last and constantly swearing and using every name under the sun, such as f** twat, prick or punk," he said.
"Connor made many more mistakes than anyone else and was punished more.
"The whole group got punished and we all got a bit fed up with having to all take the punishment because of his repeated errors. No one ever said anything nasty to Connor."
"Everyone knew him because of his poor performance. His name came up constantly but not for good reasons. His death was a huge shock for everyone."
Two days before he died, Mr Clark had gone to the sick bay seeking treatment for an injury to his elbow.
He told medical staff he had initially cut his elbow when he fell against a radiator but then had used a knife to reopen the wound to avoid duties.
Mr Clark's mother, Tracy, told the hearing she spoke with her son the night before he died and he mentioned the elbow injury but not that he had made it worse with a knife.
"I would have driven there myself and taken him home as self-harm is a cry for help," Mrs Clark said.
"There were no signs to me at that point and Connor and I were very close.
"I know my son and I know how proud he was of making sure his locker was perfect, so not to let down the whole team.
"The thought of doing so by having his gun piece missing and failing the locker room inspection tipped him over the edge.
"The fact the doctor didn't take his self-harming seriously is beyond me. It is cry for help. There should have been a plan in place to check on him.
"The fact he got out unseen where there is a four-way camera on the fence seems to me of an indication that no one was manning the CCTV room.
"The fact there wasn't an exterior search for him when it was evident he was out and known he was suicidal after the note was found seems to be a failure on their part."
A previous hearing was told a Royal Marines drill instructor told the new recruit he had been given "so many chances" by superiors after making mistakes.
The inquest in Exeter has heard Mr Clark had failed a couple of kit inspections but had been re-inspected by an officer and passed, but was then pulled up by an instructor for a mistake during drill training.
He had also made comments about being a "failure" and the "worst recruit" and had also misplaced a blank firing adapter for his rifle.
Marine Charles Dryden, who had undertaken the ROP course with Mr Clark, told the inquest his friend had been criticised by a corporal.
"We were learning the basics of marching," Marine Dryden said.
"During this, Connor made a mistake and the instructor said if he had his way, he wouldn't have given him so many chances with the previous inspections and would have put him back to the start of the training. It wasn't his decision, however.
"This was not a singling out of Connor and the instructor had said similar things to other recruits who had made mistakes."
The witness, who is now a member of 47 Commando, said some of the instructors could shout and swear at recruits if they made mistakes but there was also banter.
The inquest has previously heard that, two days before Mr Clark died, he had gone to the sick bay seeking treatment for an injury to his elbow.
He told medical staff he had initially cut his elbow when he fell against a radiator but then had used a knife to reopen the wound to avoid duties.
After the wound was dressed, he had returned to training, where one of the instructors questioned why he had been in the sick bay - causing the lesson to be taught again.
"Connor replied that he was going to put his chit in anyway," Marine Dryden said.
"The instructor replied along the lines of 'While you're here and getting paid you are going to learn what I am going to teach you'."
The inquest heard that the other recruits were helping Mr Clark find the blank firing adapter for his rifle because they did not want to receive a troop physical punishment - known as a "thrashing".
"I wouldn't disagree that you couldn't go to an instructor and get a new one, but I would definitely agree that at that point there would have been repercussions for losing that piece of equipment," Marine Dryden said.
"From what I recall, other recruits said they would help him find it and not say anything due to the thought of the whole troop getting thrashed and potentially losing the weekend leave we were due to get on the Saturday.
"I think there was always a fear that potentially it would not be granted, if standards were not met."
He also rejected claims that there was a "hostile environment" between recruits and did not remember any physical confrontations.
"It was a high-pressure environment and there was the stress of the course, but I don't remember physical confrontations," he said.
The witness said he was shocked at his friend's death, having only spoken to him the evening before about his plans to continue with the training course.
"At that point I didn't think Connor would have taken his own life because he was missing at that point, I personally thought it was a cry for help," he said.
"I guess it is hard to believe that a person who I spoke to the night before would do that and seemed OK the night before.
"Obviously everyone was saddened by Connor's death but agreed that we didn't necessarily attribute that to him being bullied by the corporals or anything like that."