The mother of a Perth soldier who died in mysterious circumstances has said she was confident that a new inquest will be held into his death after years of lobbying.
The son of Yvonne Heath, 17-year-old James Collinson, was one of four young soldiers to die from gunshot wounds at Deepcut barracks in Surrey.
High Court judges have ordered an inquest into the death of soldier Private Cheryl James. Mrs Heath welcomed the legal breakthrough as a significant development in the families’ quest for the truth.
She believes this will inevitably pave the way for inquests into the deaths of all the young soldiers who died between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of bullying and abuse.
Cheryl James’s parents, Des and Doreen, applied through human rights campaign group Liberty for a new inquest after the Human Rights Act was used to secure access to documents held by the authorities about the teenager’s death.
“This case is the first one through the gate and the other three will follow,” said Mrs Heath, who now lives in Cheshire.
“Someone had to go first and I am absolutely delighted for Des and Doreen James. I am so flabbergasted and very emotional it is the beginning of the end.”
High Court judges Mr Justice Mitting and Judge Peter Thornton QC have now both agreed that there was “an insufficiency of inquiry” at the 1995 inquest into Cheryl James’s death 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”.
Mr and Mrs James said they were “delighted” to have a fresh inquest but “a meaningful inquiry into Cheryl’s death is almost 20 years late”.
They said in a statement: “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.”