Ex-soldier tells ITV News: Deepcut barracks was hell on earth - I'd rather be in a warzone
An ex-soldier who served at Deepcut barracks has spoken for the first time about his experience at the base, which he described as "hell on earth".
Dan Griffiths worked with 18-year-old Cheryl James, who was found dead at the barracks with a bullet wound to the head in 1995.
He told ITV News that the base was like a "prison" with an ingrained culture of bullying, harassment and fear.
"I'd prefer to be in a warzone than go back - it was hell on earth."
"Everybody was fuelled on fear. You didn’t want to stand out of line. You didn’t know who to trust or who to make friends with.
"It like a prison… it’s the worst place that I’ve known. I'd prefer to be in a war zone than go back. It was hell on earth, horrible."
Mr Griffiths joined the Army, aged 16, at the same time as Private Cheryl James in 1995.
They trained together at Pirbright Training Centre before moving to Deepcut.
"I remember my very first day going in there thinking ‘this is great, I’m in the army now’," he said.
"It just went downhill very very quickly. I got posted straight to Bosnia from there and I prefer to be in a war zone any day."
Private James, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, was found with a bullet wound to her head in November 1995.
She was one of four soldiers who died at the Surrey barracks between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of bullying and abuse.
Mr Griffiths - who gave evidence at the inquest into Private James' death - said she was "a really bubbly character, and a little bit childish at times".
"She didn’t quite know how to get told off, like when you’re being told off by your parents when you’re a kid, you kind of laugh cos you don’t know how to react to it. That’s what she was like. She was always laughing, even if she was struggling."
He said he was in "total shock" when he learned of her death.
"The fact she was so bubbly then there were claims she took her own life, it didn’t add up."
Mr Griffiths said two weeks before Private James' death, he saw her being reprimanded by a troop sergeant.
"He was very, very angry about something. I still don’t know what it is, to this day. He was very very angry at her.
"It disturbed me a bit because I'd never seen her cry.
"She said she hates this sergeant. I asked what that was all about. She just said, straight out, ‘best you don’t know, it’s best you don’t know’. And I just said ‘don’t worry about it, it’ll be different tomorrow’ and we went our separate ways."
Mr Griffiths claims he was later attacked by a superior during a room inspection in the gents block.
He alleges he was struck with a broken broom handle - breaking his fingers and knocking him unconscious.
He criticised the chain of command at Deepcut, accusing senior personnel of not doing any thing to stop the abuse.
"I do feel let down by everybody in command at Deepcut," he said.
"Nobody knew what was going on, what was happening, and if they did know what was happening, they were turning a blind eye."
ITV News has approached the Ministry of Defence for comment.