Opportunities missed to prevent suicide of Olivia Perks at Sandhurst, inquest says

A coroner's finding that the Army missed opportunities to prevent the suicide of an officer cadet found hanged at Sandhurst military academy was "very different" to the story the Ministry of Defence told her relatives after she died, her family said.

Coroner Alison McCormick recorded a conclusion of suicide as the inquest into the death of 21-year-old Olivia Perks ended on Friday.

The 21-year-old was found hanged in her room at the prestigious Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Berkshire in February 2019.

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Her mother Louise Townsend said in a statement read outside court by her solicitor that she welcomed the findings of the coroner's inquest into her daughter's "tragic and unnecessary death".

"The last four years have been the hardest and most difficult journey we could have embarked upon: to lose our wonderful, vivacious and captivating girl, in circumstances which we now know were avoidable.

"We have been fighting for the truth of what really happened since she passed, and the story we were presented with at the start of this process by the Ministry of Defence was very different to the conclusion that has now been reached by the coroner.

"For the memory of Olivia, we truly hope that the lessons learned from her death and the implementation of the recommendations from the service inquiry will foster change, both in the culture of the British Army and across the wider Armed Forces, to promote a safe and positive environment for all trainees and to ensure that officers and military personnel of the future are supported in their service to their country, to be the best that they can possibly be."

Coroner Alison McCormick said the risks to Olivia were not managed in accordance with the Army policy for the risk management of vulnerable people.

She said there was a "missed opportunity by the chain of command" to recognise the risk the stress of her situation posed to Olivia and a "medical assessment should have been, but was not, requested", the coroner said.

"It is not possible to know what the outcome would have been had a medical assessment taken place, but it is possible that measures would have been put in place which could have prevented Olivia's death."

The inquest at Reading Town Hall, which took place over 16 days, heard Ms Perks fell victim to a "complete breakdown in welfare support" during her time at the academy.

She tried to take her own life during a Royal Engineers visit in July 2018 but was deemed at "low risk of reoccurrence" after.

She was back on duty two days later and warned she risked losing her place at the academy if she engaged in similar behaviour again.

The inquest also heard Sandhurst had an "irresponsible" lack of welfare support despite being rated outstanding by Ofsted three times before the tragedy.

It had just one welfare officer for 2,500 people.

Speaking outside court, the academy's commandant Major General Zac Stenning said: "Much more should and could have been done to support [Olivia]. As an organisation we should have been better.

"We are committed to being better and will consider all of the coroner's findings to ensure we learn any further lessons to provide the best possible leadership and care for our soldiers, officers and trainees."

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