Joel Robinson suicide: 'Army failing to deal with bullying complaints' - BBC News
The experience of a young soldier who took his own life is "sadly not isolated", a lawyer says.
Joel Robinson's mother said he was a "warm young man" and a "gifted horseman"

The case of a soldier who took his own life just over three years ago shows the Army is still failing to deal with serious bullying complaints in its ranks, says a lawyer who specialises in military justice.

Lance Corporal Joel Robinson was serving in the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment when he was found hanged in a common room at Combermere Barracks in Windsor on 25 March 2019.

Around seven months earlier, the 24-year-old had made a formal complaint that he was being bullied and victimised, "leaving him lonely and depressed".

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said it has no record of his complaint.

But Angela Robinson told the BBC her son also sent her a copy, which she was able to show at his inquest in November.

"I was assured by the Army in the immediate aftermath of his death that there was no record of any bullying - this was fundamentally untrue," Mrs Robinson said.

Lawyer Emma Norton, director of the Centre for Military Justice, said: "Joel's experience is sadly not isolated and is reflected in a lot of our casework.

"While the Army likes to state publicly that it welcomes complaints, the reality is a far cry from that and complainants are all too often seen as trouble-makers, or the cause of their own problems, and treated with a lack of sympathy and respect.

"That is why there have been repeated calls for the handling of these kinds of serious complaints to be taken away from the services themselves and handled by a central MoD authority."

L/Cpl Robinson (not pictured) served with the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment

The service complaints system was introduced in 2006 and can be used by current or former members of the armed forces who feel they have been wronged at some point during their service.

According to the most recent official figures, there were 198 service complaints concerning bullying, harassment or discrimination in 2020.

The Service Complaints Ombudsman said the Army has the highest rates for bullying, harassment or discrimination complaints.

It added that only one in nine (12%) personnel who experience such behaviour make a complaint.

Mrs Robinson believes her son's complaint was swept under the carpet, and also led to him being continually overlooked for promotion, putting more pressure on his mental health.

She said: "Because he sent it to me, I was able to make sure the coroner saw it but if we hadn't done that, no-one would have ever known he had complained of serious bullying in the months before he died.

"I think that if his complaint had been dealt with properly, things might have turned out differently for my son."

The Army has the highest rates for bullying, harassment or discrimination complaints among the UK armed forces, according to official figures

During the inquest into L/Cpl Robinson's death, senior officers gave evidence that they had seen his letter of complaint and taken steps to deal with the matter informally.

However, in its subsequent response to recommendations made by senior coroner Heidi Connor, the Army reiterated that it had no record of his complaint.

When approached by the BBC for clarification, the MoD declined to comment further.

Ms Norton said: "It's disappointing that the MoD continues to claim that it had no record of Joel making a complaint.

"Senior Army witnesses at his inquest gave evidence that they knew about his complaint of bullying, saw a copy of it, shared it and discussed it, accepting that it was a formal complaint."

Ruling L/Cpl Robinson's death a suicide, Mrs Connor did not conclude the Army's handling of his complaint caused his death.

But she said: "It appears that those involved in the complaint that Joel raised were wholly or mostly unaware of the appropriate procedure."

She added that her impression was that the Army had not gone "much further than acknowledging" the problem of suicide in its ranks, stating: "The evidence is clear, there is more suicide within the Army than other armed forces."

According to the latest official figures, the deaths of seven armed forces personnel in 2021 were found to be suicide by a coroner.

An additional 22 deaths last year may also result in a suicide verdict once coroner inquests are held, the MoD said.

In total, 285 suicides were recorded among UK regular armed forces personnel between 2002 and 2021 - 264 men and 21 women.

Emma Norton is the director of the Centre for Military Justice

In response to Mrs Connor's report, the MoD acknowledged there have been delays in addressing suicide prevention.

But it said it is now a "priority health theme for defence" and promised a detailed suicide prevention plan would be produced by this summer.

Another soldier, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC how she also experienced bullying and isolation after making a service complaint.

She said: "I have been through the military's service complaints process, which started when I tried to raise a complaint about sexism in my chain of command.

"After making my complaint, I found myself the subject of all sorts of unfair criticisms - criticisms that had never been made against me before - and I was bullied by my chain of command and became increasingly isolated.

"At times I can say that I have felt utterly alone and desperate and have had some really dark thoughts of self-harm or even suicide.

"It's really hard to convey to people outside the armed forces just what it can be like. It felt like everywhere I turned there was no help. Without help, in desperation people can do terrible things."

In 2019, the MoD commissioned Air Chief Marshall Wigston to carry out an independent review of the prevalence of inappropriate behaviours in the armed forces.

It recommended that complex bullying and harassment complaints should be taken out of the chain of command and single services, dealt with instead by a central defence authority.

But Ms Norton said this plan "appears to have been quietly shelved".

"Despite initially saying it would accept that recommendation, the MoD later rolled back and rejected it, choosing instead to allow the services to keep marking their own homework," she said.

She continued: "As we saw in Joel's case, not only did none of the senior officers he approached for help know about how to deal with a service complaint, but it was quite clear they were not interested in getting to the bottom of the serious bullying allegations he had made.

"Joel made clear to his mum he had felt under pressure to withdraw it and that if he stuck with it, it would adversely affect his career."

At the conclusion of L/Cpl Robinson's inquest, the coroner issued a report to prevent future deaths.

In response the MoD said: "The concerns surrounding L/Cpl Robinson's access to support outside the direct chain of command is a known and acknowledged risk.

"We seek to continually enhance support to our soldiers and families through chaplaincy, charitable and external providers and our regimental associations."

It said that "awareness of the SC [service complaint] procedures throughout the Army has significantly improved".

"Since L/Cpl Robinson's death, a significant amount of work has gone into improving the mental health resilience and risk identification training we provide to those who serve," it added.

But Ms Norton said the Army had been "misleading" in its response to the coroner about its handling of service complaints.

She said: "Despite saying awareness of the process has significantly improved since Joel died, the fact is that the last armed forces survey showed the vast majority of service personnel still knew nothing or only a little about it.

"The simple truth is that despite warm words from the MoD that complaints are to be encouraged as a change to learn and improve, that is not how they are seen on the ground."

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