Deepcut father 'devastated'

Des James: "I cannot get my head around it"

Independent evidence suggesting an Army recruit's death at Deepcut barracks was probably not suicide is "devastating", her father has said.

Four soldiers - Sean Benton, Geoff Gray, James Collinson and Cheryl James - all died from gunshot wounds at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey between 1995 and 2002.

An independent investigator, hired by the four families after a Ministry of Defence investigation ruled the deaths were suicides, has concluded the fatal wounds were "highly unlikely" to have been self-inflicted.

Surrey Police delayed releasing the results of its year-long investigation after receiving the report, by independent expert Frank Swann.

Pte James' father, Des, said it had left the police with "egg on their faces" and renewed calls for a public inquiry into the affair.

"It has come as a bit of a shock to be honest," Mr James said.

"We did not expect it and we were not given any indication by Frank Swann that that was what he had found. It creates more questions than answers."

Surrey Police need to reflect on the way they have conducted themselves Des James

Mr James told the BBC that he had believed the death had not been thoroughly investigated.

"We hold the army responsible for that. And really we hold the commanding officer in 1995 ultimately responsible.

"The commanding officer, together with lots of others, must be held accountable for his actions in 1995 and without a public inquiry into this I don't see how we're ever going to achieve that."

'So much to live for'

Mr James' sentiments were echoed by the father of Pte Collinson, from Perth.

Jim Collinson said: "This is strong evidence now that we need a public inquiry into what is going on at Deepcut.

"But sadly it is not just Deepcut - its the whole of the British Army that has got to be investigated," he told the BBC.

The dead soldiers Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, East Sussex, 1995 Cheryl James, 18, from Llangollen, north Wales, 1995 Geoff Gray, 17, from Seaham, County Durham, 2001 James Collinson, 17, from Perth, Scotland, 2002 Timeline: Deaths at Deepcut

He has always been convinced that his son did not commit suicide.

"He was a happy cheerful young man. He achieved so little in a such a short time.

"He had so much to live for, nothing to die for."

Mr James said Mr Swann had not offered him a theory as to why his daughter had died, but had only said he thought it was "highly unlikely" the bullet wound which killed her was self inflicted.

"To be honest, that part of it is devastating," said Mr James.

"To have to change your mindset entirely, to think that somebody else may have been involved in her death, is impossible.

"I cannot get my head around it," he added.

Pattern of injury

Mr Swann said it was "highly unlikely" that the bullet wounds to the head of Geoff Gray were self-inflicted.

His report also said in the case of Sean Benton, it was possible that two bullet wounds were self-inflicted but "highly unlikely" that three on his torso were.

We can't use emotive words like murder. We can say it's either self-inflicted, or highly likely, unlikely, et cetera Frank Swann

Mr Swann said it was "unlikely" bullet wounds to the underside of Pte Collinson's chin and head were self-inflicted but it was possible they were the result of an accident.

During the six weeks Mr Swann and his investigating team spent at the barracks with a mobile laboratory, they test-fired the weapon used in the deaths.

Mr Swann said he was not able to use the weapon to self-inflict a wound similar to the pattern of injury in the dead soldiers.

"We were left with a situation in one case where the guy would have needed 15ft-long arms because you couldn't get that pattern unless you were standing 15 foot away from the person who was injured," he told BBC News 24.

'Matter for CPS'

He said he did not know why the police did not reach the same conclusions nor could he say why the recruits died.

"We can't use emotive words like murder. We can say it's either self-inflicted, or highly likely, unlikely, et cetera.

"It is really a matter for the police, the coroner, the courts, the Crown Prosecution Service, people like that to make these decisions."

A team of 30 detectives from Surrey Police spent a year examining the deaths of the four soldiers at the Surrey barracks.

Mr James criticised the Surrey force, saying they had not handled the situation well.

"Surrey Police need to reflect on the way they have conducted themselves the last few days," he said.

"They decided to go ahead with their briefing, then Frank Swann comes up with his statement and they have egg on their faces," he added.