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Deepcut death: new inquest told of evidence that soldier did not kill herself Deepcut death: new inquest told of evidence that soldier did not kill herself
(about 7 hours later)
A gunshot wound that killed a young female soldier at the Deepcut army barracks in Surrey 20 years ago may not have been self-inflicted, a coroner has been told. The father of a teenage army recruit found shot dead 20 years ago at the Deepcut barracks told an inquest he wanted a “thorough investigation” as it emerged new scientific evidence could show her death may not have been self-inflicted.
At a fresh inquest into the death of Cheryl James, 18, Alison Foster QC, representing the James family, said: “Distinguished pathological evidence shows that the shot that killed Cheryl James may not have been self-inflicted. Third party involvement is more than merely speculation.” Private Cheryl James, 18, was found with a single fatal bullet wound to the head while on lone guard duty at the controversial Surrey barracks in November 1995.
On the opening day of a fresh inquest into her death, her father Des James, 66, said the original inquest three weeks after her death was “rushed”, and a subsequent reinvestigation by Surrey police was “cursory”.
Related: Parents of soldier shot dead at Deepcut barracks demand access to army filesRelated: Parents of soldier shot dead at Deepcut barracks demand access to army files
The body of James, from Llangollen in north Wales, was found at 8.30am on 27 November 1995, shortly after she had completed initial training; there was a bullet wound between her right eye and the bridge of her nose. “I want a thorough investigation that takes a look at forensic evidence missed or not collected. As long as at the end of this inquest we are able to feel confident that everything that could be done has been done I would be satisfied,” he told coroner Brian Barker, QC, sitting at Woking coroner’s court.
Her body was exhumed last year after the high court in 2014 quashed the open verdict of her original inquest, which took place three weeks after her death and lasted one hour. James told the hearing Surrey police had “walked away” from the investigation and “had left it to the military”. He was also concerned Surrey police were working too closely with the army, especially as Ministry of Defence officers had been seconded to the force’s 2002 reinvestigation of the death, and that there was an assumption of suicide.
Fresh ballistic tests have been conducted and are ongoing, the new inquest at Woking coroners court heard. John Beggs, QC, for Surrey police, questioning James said: “It was far from cursory. It was far from rushed. It was, in fact, a very expensive and thorough investigation.” He said at the time James was complaining about the investigation in repeated emails and letters to Surrey police, the schoolgirl Milly Dowler was missing, and the force was also dealing with the M25 rapist.
Foster applied for the inquest to be adjourned for a few weeks, saying it was “imperative” all scientific evidence was acquired before other witnesses – including James’s 66-year-old father, Desmond – were called to give evidence. Beggs said: “Did it ever occur to you that you yourself with your masses of letters and emails that you sent over those 15 months, that you may have been distracting Surrey police during that very intense period?” Before James could reply, the coroner intervened to ask him to move to a different line of questioning.
Ballistics tests were conducted last week but the pathologist representing the James family was not present due to an oversight, for which the coroner apologised. Cheryl James, from Llangollen, north Wales, had just completed initial training when she was found with a bullet wound between her right eye and the bridge of her nose at 8.30am on 27 November 1995.
Foster said the oversight was regrettable. “We have lost faith in the currently instructed ballistic expert,” she said. “Of course it does nothing to maintain our confidence in the manner, in this last stage, that the tests might have been carried out.” Her body was exhumed last year ahead of a new inquest after an open verdict at her original inquest was quashed by the high court. She was one of four young recruits to die from gunshot wounds at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.
The coroner, Brian Barker QC, refused the application, saying it was a “difficult and complex” case but that witnesses could be recalled if necessary. He denied there was any “procedural unfairness” and pledged a “full, frank and fearless” investigation. The new inquest heard that as a young child James had been “a joy”, but had problems when a teenager. She had been grief-stricken after her cousin, 18, took his own life in December 1992, and she had taken an overdose of between six and eight painkillers in the weeks afterwards, which was seen as “a cry for help”.
James was discovered with a single gunshot wound to her head at the Surrey barracks in 1995. She had been posted alone to guard the gate and was armed with an SA80 rifle. She had also been allegedly raped by two males after a party when she was aged just 14. James said he only learned of the allegation she had been raped after her death.
She was one of four recruits to die from gunshot wounds at the Surrey barracks between 1995 and 2002. James said his daughter had emerged from her initial 10-week training at Pirbright barracks “like a poster girl” for the army, but he became aware of letters after her death in which she wrote of hating the army and wanting to leave.
Opposing the application for an adjournment, John Beggs QC, for Surrey police, said claims of possible third party involvement were “speculation in the extreme”. He said a 2006 independent review into the Deepcut deaths by Nicholas Blake QC concluded it was likely James’s wounds were self-inflicted. Blake’s inquiry heard James was not the “happy, bubbly” girl she had been described, but had had “personal problems in her private life”. Nicholas Moss, representing the MoD, put it to James that there were witnesses who spoke of her having suicidal thoughts. One pre-army friend was said to have found her in tears on her sofa saying: “What’s the point of carrying on?”
A pre-inquest hearing heard there was new evidence suggesting James may have been sexually coerced or exploited by senior ranks shortly before her death. The friend said she was “plagued by voices in the shower” in the Wrexham flat she lived in, had an interest in ghosts and that “death intrigued her”.
The new inquest, which is due to last seven weeks, will examine any evidence she was subjected to sexual abuse before her death. It will also examine whether a third party was involved as well as any policy shortcomings regarding lone guard duty, sexual behaviour, supervision and support of new recruits – particularly women – and around drugs and alcohol. Other witnesses had spoken of her making comments about shooting herself after the death of private Sean Benton, 20, at the same barracks, in June 1995, one of the four who died from gunshot wounds.
The inquest continues. To one, she said: “It would be really easy to shoot yourself. It would be dead easy,” according to Moss. The friend had thought: “She seemed serious, it sent a chill through me,” he added. To another, she said: “The only way to get out of the army is to put a gun to your head.” In another, she was alleged to have said: “I know what we’ll do, when we are on guard duty we will shoot ourselves in the head.” The friend thought she was joking, said Moss.
Related: Fresh inquest may shed light on mystery Deepcut shootingsRelated: Fresh inquest may shed light on mystery Deepcut shootings
Her father said she could have been joking, or it was “public bravado”. He did not recognise “the language and upset”, and added: “I don’t think they prove anything.”
James said the last time he had seen Cheryl was on her 18th birthday, five weeks before her death. “We often reflect there were so many things we could have said if we had known,” he said. She had confided in her mother, Doreen, that she had a boyfriend she was serious about.
Earlier Alison Foster, QC, representing James’s family, said: “Distinguished pathological evidence shows that the shot that killed Cheryl James may not have been self-inflicted.”
She added: “Third-party involvement is more than merely speculation.”
Fresh ballistic tests have been conducted and are ongoing.
At a at a pre-inquest hearing it emerged there was new evidence which suggested she may have been sexually coerced or exploited by senior ranks shortly before her death.
The inquest, which is due to last seven weeks, will examine any evidence she was subjected to sexual abuse before her death. It will also examine whether a third party was involved as well as any policy shortcomings regarding lone guard duty, sexual behaviour, supervision and support of new recruits – particularly women – and around drugs and alcohol.
The hearing continues.