The mother of a Perth soldier who died at the infamous Deepcut Barracks has told The Courier she is still holding out for a public inquiry into her son’s death.
Yvonne Heath, formerly Collinson, was speaking after attending the first day of a fresh coroner’s inquest into the death of Private Cheryl James, who was one of four recruits to die at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.
The 18-year-old was found with a bullet wound to the head at Deepcut in November 1995. Privates Sean Benton, James Collinson and Geoff Gray also died from gunshot wounds at the Surrey barracks during this period.
Mrs Heath, who now lives in Cheshire, said that despite Brian Barker QC who is overseeing the inquest into Private James’s death saying it is not a public inquiry, evidence given at the hearing may lead to one being held.
“I was at the court on Monday and the inference I took from the coroner was that if certain evidence is given from some of the witnesses, the judge may have to look deeper.
“It may lead to him agreeing to widen the matter into a public inquiry,” she said. “There will be around 80 people testifying at this fresh inquest into Private James’s death so hopefully this will shed some new light into what went on at Deepcut.”
Mrs Heath also claimed the parents of the four teenagers who died have constantly faced “obstacles” from the various authorities regarding the release of relevant files and documents. However, she still feels justice will eventually prevail.
“The inquest into James’s death lasted three weeks. It had a jury and, for the outsider looking in, it must have appeared to be really fair,” she said.
“However, Surrey Police have since released some files which we didn’t have access to back then (in 2006), so the papers we had been supplied with at James’s inquest were just the tip of the iceberg.
“These disclosed files (from the police) are now in the hands of our legal team so they can look over them and decide what to do with them.”
Although the process to try to gain an insight behind the reasons for the recruits’ deaths has been lengthy, Mrs Heath hopes it will be worth it in the end.
“It will soon be 14 years since the death of James, so what is a few years more to wait?” she added.
Private Collinson had been at Deepcut Barracks for only six weeks after he joined the Royal Logistics Corp when he was found dead during a routine guard duty shift on March 23 2002.