Family of Paul Cochrane claim RIR had 10 year history of physical, sexual, verba
Jenny B | 24.05.2003 19:30
The family of RIR soldier Paul Cochrane who commited suicide claim that the commander of the RIR, lieutenant colonel Tim Collins failed to counteract the vicious and pervading bullying culture that drove their son to his death. 'There were 17 cases being investigated at Drumadd Barracks Armagh at the time of Paul's death, the night of Paul's funeral, a soldier in his battalion was raped by another high ranking officer'.
The Cochrane family claim that Colonel Collins failed to take appropriate action to deal with the officers bullying their son Paul. Paul had written to Col Collins a few weeks before he died naming senior officers he accused of bullying him and asking for the commanding officer's help. A secret tape Paul made of a meeting with senior officers was found mangled in the grounds of the army camp 3 days before his death. The Cochranes requested that the alleged bullies not attend their son's funeral, but found out the officer bullies had sat just a few feet away from them in church. 'We are upset and furious' said Mrs Cochrane. 'We felt let down and betrayed by Col Collins and the army. We have not seen or heard from Col Collins since the funeral'. 'Nearly 2 years on the army still hasn't released a report into what happened and therefore we can't have an inquest'. Julie Clark, Paul's cousin set up a support group for victims of army bullying and their relatives, Families United. 'For a long time we thought we were alone in this'Ms Clark said, 'but we have heard all sorts of stories of physical, verbal, sexual and mental abuse stretching back 8 or 10 years'. Just a few weeks ago a young soldier at Drumadd hanged himself. The Cochrane family have no faith in an internal MOD inquiry, they feel it would be simply officers investigating each other. Mr Cochrane said 'There has to be a full public inquiry into Paul's death and what is going on in the RIR'. The Cochrane family were speaking in the Guardian newspaper today.
Jenny B
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