By Paul Reoch

THE PERTH MOTHER of a 17-year-old soldier who died at Deepcut has accepted an apology from shadow secretary of defence Dr Liam Fox—but wishes he had done it in public.

Yvonne Collinson, whose son James was found dead at the Surrey army barracks on March 23, 2002, received the letter yesterday from Mr Fox after she had written to the Conservative politician after what she felt were slurs made against her son.

Mr Fox had previously voiced his comments after the publication of the Blake review into the Deepcut deaths, which surmised that the army had failed in its duty of care to four young soldiers who died at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.

Mrs Collinson, who has campaigned for a public inquiry to be heard into the soldiers’ deaths, had taken umbrage when Mr Fox suggested that two of the four army recruits, possibly including her son, had a history of self-harm, and subsequently wrote to him asking him to clarify the matter.

And while Mr Fox has apologised for his comments, Mrs Collinson still thinks he could have handled the situation differently.

She told The Courier last night, “He has apologised but I would rather he had done it in public. However, he has admitted that his comments about self-harm didn’t pertain to James in that category, which was my bone of contention.

“It’s unfortunate he made these comments in the first place but I do accept his apology.”

In his letter, Mr Fox said he had no intention of offending her or any member of her family.

The letter states, “As I have said before, we all wish profoundly that the tragic deaths of the four young people at Deepcut barracks had not occurred to make the Blake report necessary.

“However, I felt it was important to highlight that we strongly believe that some of the circumstances surrounding the deaths represents a failure in the duty of care by the army to these young soldiers.”

It continues, “I can only apologise if the way in which I articulated my comments inaccurately implied that some of the circumstances applied to your son.

“As I said in the House of Commons when the Blake report was first published, the photographs of each soldier, including your son, clearly shows the pride with which they were undertaking their training.

“I can only hope that the lessons learned from these tragic events will reduce the chances of other families having to endure the kind of suffering that you and your family have been through.”

Ms Collinson has said the four families of the young recruits will be holding a meeting with armed forces minister Adam Ingram, with a date yet to be confirmed.

“This was a result of the Blake report,” she said.

“Mr Ingram wrote to all four families concerned and asked us if we would be prepared to meet him at a future date.

“But we have taken time to digest this and it is for us to give the go-ahead.”