HIGH Court judges have ordered a fresh inquest into the death of a soldier who died at Deepcut barracks.
Private Cheryl James, 18, was found dead from a single gunshot wound in November 1995. An inquest recorded an open verdict.
She was one of four soldiers who died from gunshot wounds at the Surrey barracks between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of bullying and abuse.
The others were Privates JamesCollinson, 17, from Perth; Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings in East Sussex; and Geoff Gray, 17, from Seaham in County Durham.
Mr Justice Mitting and Judge Peter Thornton QC said there was "an insufficiency of inquiry" at the 1995 inquest and quashed its open verdict.
Judge Thornton said "the discovery of new facts or evidence" made "a fresh investigation including a fresh inquest necessary or desirable in the interests of justice".
Pte Collinson's mother, Yvonne, believes his death was a "prank gone wrong" and has called for a public inquiry. Appeals for a fresh inquest were rejected in 2012.
Pte James was undergoing initial training at Deepcut when she was found dead with a bullet wound between her right eye and the bridge of her nose.
Her parents, Des and Doreen James, applied through human rights campaign group Liberty for a new inquest after the Human Rights Act was used to secure access to documents held about the teenager's death.
Mr and Mrs James said they were delighted to have a fresh inquest but that "a meaningful inquiry into Cheryl's death is almost 20 years late".
They said: "When young people die in violent circumstances, a rigorous and transparent investigation should be automatic.
"Something went dreadfully wrong at Deepcut, yet until now no-one has bothered to look at how and why our daughter died.
"We can only hope that Cheryl's legacy helps change the current ineffective and discredited military justice system."
Liberty solicitor Emma Norton said: "Cheryl's family refused to let her death be swept under the carpet but they've had to fight at every stage for answers in the face of a state that thought it could ignore the basic human rights of its troops.
"Cheryl was preparing for a life of service and deserved so much better - her family can now hope to finally get some answers."
The new investigation is to be carried out by the current senior coroner for the Surrey area, who did not conduct the original inquest, or by a coroner to be agreed by the senior coroner, the Chief Coroner and Judge Thornton.
Pte James was a recruit with the Royal Logistical Corps when she died. She had been posted to a gate alone, in battle dress and armed with an SA80 rifle.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article