Engaged but Closeted Scottish RAF Flyer Found Dead
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| Robert Fleeting found hunted just before |
The family of a Scottish soldier found hanged in his room insist that he did not kill himself and may have died as a result of a ‘besting’.
Robert Fleeting, 24, from East Kilrbide, was found dead at RAF Benson, Oxforshire, in September 2011.
A coroner ruled that the senior aircraftsman, who was engaged to be married, hanged himself after having consensual sex with another man.
A postmortem examination found rectal damage on Robert, but the medic that he had sex with said that Robert was not the receptive one when they had intercourse.
However, his parents Charlie and Susan suspect foul play and believe he was killed to cover up an initiation ceremony that went wrong.
Charlie said: ‘Two police officers came to the door and told me that Robert had passed away and gave me a number to call.
‘It was RAF Benson. I was told immediately that Robert had hanged himself in his room.
‘The police officer in charge also said later it was “a classic suicide”. But the more inquiries we made the more inconsistencies emerged.’
Robert was found hanged in his room with suicide notes to his family in the room.
On the night before, Saturday, September 3, 2011, Robert and some of his colleagues from RAF Benson went out for the night in nearby Henley, where they were joined by medics from the base.
Witnesses said Robert danced, appeared to be happy and was not drunk.
He was discovered the next day when two friends went to find him after he failed to turn up for his shift.
An inquest found Robert, who was engaged, took his own life after having sex with a gay medic and struggling with his sexuality.
The post-mortem examination took place at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford two days after Robert’s death, which is when rectal damage was detected.
The body was returned to the family – still unaware of the findings – and cremated, with the permission of the police, less than two weeks after the death.
Charlie says that he has no problem that Robert had a homosexual encounter but until then his family believe he was entirely heterosexual.
He had had several girlfriends, he was engaged to be married and had just given his fiancee £300 for a wedding dress.
At the inquest in April 2012, the Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner concluded that Robert had taken his own life.
He said: ‘One difficulty which has been put to me is the fact there is no indication he had homosexual tendencies prior to this event.
‘That is one powerful argument – that he might have been distressed that a homosexual act had occurred.
‘That would have been a dreadful blow to someone who was engaged to be married. I strongly suspect it was that realisation which caused him to take the action he did.
‘If he did take that action, I cannot conceive it would be an accidental event given the notes that he left.’
The ‘suicide’ notes, addressed to family members, scrawled and sprawling, apparently written when intoxicated, were likely to be Robert’s, according to an expert handwriting witness.
Charlie said: ‘We don’t believe these to be Robert’s. His grammar and girlfriend’s name are wrong.
‘Robert was very close to his sister and if he was leaving this world he would have mentioned Stacy-Anne.’
The case was referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission that found there had been failings by Thames Valley Police. One being the lack of explanation as to how he suffered internal injuries.
There were also questions raised about whether he would have been able to kill himself the way he did.
The report also questioned the failure of the inquiry to establish whether a specialist knot used was one that the RAF man could perform.
Charlie Fleeting claims that he could not.
The IPCC also slated the police for accepting the word of the key witness, the medic, despite him giving contradictory statements.
Charlie said: ‘Right from the start police made up their minds that it was a suicide, there was no proper investigation.
‘No investigation of [Ray’s] room, no fingerprinting, or DNA, no explanation of the T-shirt, which clearly wasn’t Robert’s, no explanation of where his underwear went to.’
The family have now obtained a penal notice from court ordering police to hand over all of the files on the case. Thames Valley Police has until Wednesday, November 2, to respond.
The RAF conducted its own inquiry but it has not been shared with Robert’s parents or made public.
http://metro.co.uk
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