Soldiers will no longer be shouted at or made to do more than 10 press-ups as a punishment, it has been claimed.
Army beastings informal punishments which often take the form of excessive physical exercise – have reportedly been banned, with new rules limiting the amount of exercise soldiers will be told to do.
The alleged move comes after the British Army apologised to the family of Pte Gavin Williams, who died after a ‘beasting’ at his Wiltshire barracks in July 2006.
An inquest earlier this year was told Pte Williams died from heatstroke after being forced to do intensive exercise for “setting off a fire extinguisher”, turning up for duty drunk and being inappropriately dressed.
The coroner later found the beasting was unlawful.
Under the new rules, which were reported in The Sun, soldiers will allegedly be only made to do a 200m run or less than one minute of exercise.
At the army’s training centre in Catterick, North Yorkshire, out-of-hours inspections and swearing at recruits has also reportedly been banned, while instructors will not be allowed to shout in people’s faces.
The Ministry of Defence has been contacted for comment.