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| Deepcut: Police 'questioned army recruit suicide theory' | Deepcut: Police 'questioned army recruit suicide theory' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Questions about whether a soldier killed herself at an army base were raised by police as far back as 2002, an inquest has heard. | |
| Pte Cheryl James, 18, was found shot dead at Deepcut Barracks in 1995 - amid claims of bullying and abuse. | Pte Cheryl James, 18, was found shot dead at Deepcut Barracks in 1995 - amid claims of bullying and abuse. |
| The army said the bullet wound to her head was self-inflicted, but in 1995 a coroner recorded an open verdict. | The army said the bullet wound to her head was self-inflicted, but in 1995 a coroner recorded an open verdict. |
| A fresh inquest is taking place after Surrey Police were forced to disclose new evidence. | A fresh inquest is taking place after Surrey Police were forced to disclose new evidence. |
| Alison Foster QC, representing the James family, said a Surrey Police officer questioned the suicide theory because of the way the body of Pte James, from Denbighshire, was found. | |
| Reading out a statement made in 2002 by the officer who reviewed Pte James's death, she said: "There was no exit wound, the apparent lack of blood on the ground, the way in which the hood of the waterproof jacket was covering the face... | |
| "Any one of these indicators would not cause suspicion... but taken together, they ask questions about the way and the manner of Private James's death." | |
| Pte James was one of four recruits to die at Deepcut between 1995 and 2002. | |
| 'Unknown male' | |
| Des James, the soldier's father, said this evidence confirmed suspicions he and his wife had at the time. | |
| "We were never informed about this and given all the complaints and challenges we made, Surrey Police had many opportunities." | |
| The coroner was also told there was concern about the "thoroughness of the inquiries" made by Surrey Police about an "unknown male" who was seen around the time of Pte James's death. | |
| There were "insufficient enquiries" made about another private, who saw Pte James just before she died, the inquest heard. | |
| Mr James said: "Surrey Police came to my home to review the case. They told me about what [the private] said, that she was going off into the woods and she said she was going to be fine. | |
| "You can't just be laughing and joking one minute, then go into the woods and [commit suicide]." | |
| Mr James said he felt his daughter had been involved in an argument before she died. | |
| The inquest continues. |