RAF criticised over handling of recruit's death

Malik Bunton was found dead in his room at RAF Leeming in July 2023

The RAF has been criticised over its handling of the death of a serviceman at a base in North Yorkshire.

Air Specialist Malik Bunton, 21, was found dead in his room at RAF Leeming in July 2023. An inquest later concluded he had taken his own life.

Following the hearing coroner Catherine Cundy highlighted three areas of concern, including an "insufficient inquiry" into a previous attempt on his life, which she said had "impeded" the RAF's ability to "properly assess Mr Bunton's suicide risk".

A Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesperson said the RAF was "committed to learning from these tragic events" and would "carefully" consider the report.

During the inquest evidence was heard of two separate incidents of "self-harm/suicidal ideation" in the months before Mr Bunton's death on 17 July 2023.

The first was on 26 March when Mr Bunton "entered the River Ouse while intoxicated and with suicidal intent".

The second occurred on 11 July when Mr Bunton, who was from Bury St Edmunds, consulted with a GP in the Defence Medical Service in relation to self-harm.

In her report, Ms Cundy said there had been "insufficient inquiry" of Mr Bunton and other service personnel involved in the first incident, which could have "better informed subsequent oversight of Mr Bunton's welfare".

Ms Cundy also highlighted "weaknesses" in the clinical care review process undertaken by the Defence Medical Service following Mr Bunton's death and spoke of "inexplicable delays and some apparent deliberate obstructions to the gathering of important evidence from key witnesses".

She said the RAF had failed to take an account from Mr Bunton's colleague who attended hospital with him after he was pulled from the River Ouse.

Her report also raised concerns about the decision to delete Mr Bunton's service email account "without consideration of its potential importance in the context of a suspected suicide".

Writing to the MoD, Ms Cundy said while "unable to conclude that the following concerns caused or contributed to Mr Bunton's death, I make this report as I consider they impeded the ability of the RAF to properly assess Mr Bunton's suicide risk and, if repeated, will continue to impede the ability of the RAF to learn lessons from his death and mitigate future risk to other service personnel".

The MoD spokesperson said: "The MOD is deeply saddened by the death of AS1 Malik Bunton and our thoughts and sympathies remain with his family and friends.

"The RAF is committed to learning from these tragic events and will carefully consider the concerns raised by HM Coroner in the Prevention of Future Deaths Report."

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