Mother rues day Cheryl James joined the Army
The mother of teenage soldier Cheryl James who died at Deepcut Army barracks says she rues the day that she signed her application form to join the military.
Cheryl was under 18 when she decided on a career in the Army and so needed her parents' permission.
She was found dead her rifle by her side while on guard duty at the Surrey camp in November 1995. Earlier this month an inquest ruled that she took her own life.
Parents Des and Doreen James, from Llanymynech, near Oswestry, had campaigned for two decades for a full inquiry into their daughter's death after the first inquest took just 40 minutes.
In a poignant open letter, Mrs James today thanked friends and supporters who she says over the last 20 years and more gave them the strength to pursue their quest to find some of the answers surrounding Cheryl's death.
"I knew there would always be some questions that we would never know the answers to but we had to find out as many as we could," she said.
"Little did we know what lay ahead of us, we never imagined how difficult this was going to be.
"It has been a long road, sadly it should have been a much shorter conclusion to how Cheryl lost her life, but every turn was hampered by red tape and things just got more difficult as time went by. We could not give up though, we needed answers and they were there somewhere."
Mrs James said she was disappointed by the coroner's verdict.
"Some questions still remain unanswered and probably always will be.
"At the end of it I am surprised that it turned out to be a verdict explaining the last few moments of Cheryl's life so definitively, how can anyone possibly know that?"
She said that things had been brought to light during the inquest that described the Army as a dangerous place to be when her daughter joined up.
"I rue the day I signed her application form, she was under 18. But I have to live with that, the same as all those people like the commander of the camp and the people that failed in their commitment to these youngsters. They failed in their duty of care."
"Hopefully in the meantime changes have been made and youngsters are going in to a safe environment where they will be allowed to flourish and that people responsible for any misdoings should be made accountable for their actions or lack of of them.
"If this materialises then Cheryl's death has not been in vain."
