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| Deepcut death: Cheryl James's father to give evidence | |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| A second inquest into the death of a teenage army recruit at Deepcut Barracks is to hear evidence from her father. | |
| Pte Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, was found with a bullet wound to her head in November 1995. | Pte Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, was found with a bullet wound to her head in November 1995. |
| She was one of four soldiers who died at the Surrey barracks between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of bullying and abuse. | She was one of four soldiers who died at the Surrey barracks between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of bullying and abuse. |
| The Woking inquest is expected to last seven weeks and hear evidence from more than 100 people. | |
| In 2014 the High Court quashed the original 1995 inquest, which recorded an open verdict. | |
| Pte James's father, Des James, is due to be the first witness to give evidence before coroner Judge Brian Barker on Monday. | |
| Who were Deepcut four? Background to the deaths and timeline of events | |
| Ahead of the inquest, Mr James said: "There's no wrong verdict for me in this. | |
| "As long as the process is impeccable, as long as I can look back and say everything we could do, we've done, that's the important thing." | "As long as the process is impeccable, as long as I can look back and say everything we could do, we've done, that's the important thing." |
| He said he would approach the hearing with an "open mind" and wanted questions about the events leading up to her death answered. | He said he would approach the hearing with an "open mind" and wanted questions about the events leading up to her death answered. |
| 'Begs many questions' | |
| Mr James said when the Army told him in 1995 that his daughter had killed herself, he initially accepted its version of events because he was brought up to believe organisations like the armed services "were on your side". | |
| "I suppose the alarm bells should have started to ring when the inquest was held after just three weeks," he said. | |
| "We later found out that the Army had documented her death on the 14 December, which was a week earlier. So two weeks after her death the Army had made a decision that it was a suicide." | |
| He added: "The coroner returned an open verdict, which in itself begs many, many questions about why didn't he just adjourn? | |
| "Why wasn't the evidence there if they [the Army] were so sure it was a suicide? It is very, very simple to collect the evidence while everything is fresh." | |
| 'Escape scrutiny' | |
| Mr James told BBC home affairs correspondent June Kelly his 20-year fight for justice was no longer just about his daughter but for parents up and down the country who "place recruits in the care of the state". | |
| "It's not good enough, I believe, for the MoD today to say, 'Well it's all in the past and it's all been fixed and we have a policy of zero tolerance'. | |
| "You can't just use sound bites and these assurances to escape the scrutiny that should have taken place around that camp." | |
| Mr James told the Telegraph at least 10 witnesses claim they were sexually exploited or ordered to have sex with soldiers. | |
| In January, Alison Foster, representing Pte James's family, told a pre-inquest hearing they had material suggesting she may have been "sexually coerced or raped" hours before she died. | |
| Last summer, the recruit's body was exhumed and a fresh post-mortem examination was carried out. | Last summer, the recruit's body was exhumed and a fresh post-mortem examination was carried out. |
| Metallic fragments were recovered which have been analysed by a ballistics expert. | Metallic fragments were recovered which have been analysed by a ballistics expert. |
| The family had repeatedly called for her body to be exhumed to resolve a dispute over the ballistics evidence. | The family had repeatedly called for her body to be exhumed to resolve a dispute over the ballistics evidence. |
| Pte James was one of four soldiers found dead at Deepcut, Camberley, between 1995 and 2002. | |
| Ptes Sean Benton, James Collinson and Geoff Gray also died from gunshot wounds. | Ptes Sean Benton, James Collinson and Geoff Gray also died from gunshot wounds. |
| June Kelly, BBC home affairs correspondent | June Kelly, BBC home affairs correspondent |
| This new inquest is the culmination of a battle by Cheryl James's parents, Doreen and Des, to find out about events on and before the November morning when their teenage daughter was found dead. | This new inquest is the culmination of a battle by Cheryl James's parents, Doreen and Des, to find out about events on and before the November morning when their teenage daughter was found dead. |
| Together with the families of the other soldiers who died at Deepcut, Mr and Mrs James campaigned for a public inquiry. The families didn't succeed with that and so their lawyers began looking at the possibility of fresh inquests. | Together with the families of the other soldiers who died at Deepcut, Mr and Mrs James campaigned for a public inquiry. The families didn't succeed with that and so their lawyers began looking at the possibility of fresh inquests. |
| Cheryl James's parents who, like two of the other families, are represented by lawyers from the human rights organisation Liberty, were the first to be granted a new inquest. | |
| This was after Liberty had gained access to the material held by Surrey police: 44 volumes of statements, documents, notes and photographs. Now, for the first time, this will come under detailed scrutiny in a public forum. |