A FORMER Army policeman told how an Army private tried to punch him on the morning before he was killed.

Colin McDowell was inspecting the guard when Pte Sean Benton swung a punch at him, he told the Deepcut soldier’s second inquest.

Mr McDowell, who had only arrived at the Surrey camp two weeks before, said he had no knowledge of Sean Benton before the incident.

He told the inquest: “As I got to where Sean was, I saw his boots were in a s*** state. I asked him why he’d turned up on guard with boots in a s*** state. He tried to punch me, he threw a punch, missed me. I ordered him into the guard room where I placed him behind the first cell gate. I left him in there and went back out, carried on with the rest of the guard.”

Mr McDowell said the private was in the cell for about 15 minutes before being sent back to his duties and he never saw him again. The former sergeant told Surrey police he thought the swing was half hearted.

Paul Greaney QC, for the Benton family, asked if he thought it was an odd way for a soldier to behave.

“Do you think this demonstrated emotional instability,” he asked.

“I thought he was just having a bad morning,” Mr McDowell said.

The former sergeant who served 22 years in the Army said there was a notice pinned to a board reminding soldiers not to go AWOL.

“I can’t remember seeing that in orders for other units I’ve been attached to,” he said.

Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, was shot five times in the chest at the controversial Surrey Army camp in 1995.

Deepcut had no policy in place to deal with giving weapons to trainees if there were concerns about their mental health.

A former Regimental Policeman said they had asked for Sean Benton to be removed from guard over concerns about his mental stability.

Former Sergeant Gordon Patterson said he had told his superiors the RP staff

did not want Sean Benton on guard.

He said: “We approached his squadron and said we didn’t want him on guard because he wasn’t stable enough.”

Mr Patterson said his second in command had told him he was worried about Sean Benton being given a weapon. He said they were worried he could harm himself or somebody else.

After reporting his concerns, Mr Patterson said he was surprised to see Sean Benton back on guard duty.

The inquest continues.

For more of freelance reporter Barry Keevins’ coverage, go to gofundme.com/sean-benton-scond-inquest or www.deepcutinquest.co.uk.