Cheryl James's parents welcome news of second inquest for another Deepcut soldier

News that Private Sean Benton's death is to be reinvestigated was welcomed by Des and Doreen James, from Llanymynech, near Oswestry. Their 18-year-old daughter Cheryl, 18, also died at the Surrey Army base.

Private Benton, 20, from Hastings, East Sussex, was found with five bullet wounds to his chest in June 1995.

At a High Court hearing in London yesterday, Mr Justice Collins said that a considerable amount of fresh evidence had come to light which cast "some doubt" on the correctness of the original finding.

He said there was also material which concerned the care which was afforded to Private Benton by the Army at the relevant time.

The young soldier's mother Linda used the Human Rights Act to access evidence held by Surrey Police before her death last year.

Now his twin brother Tony and sister Tracy Lewis, represented by the human rights organisation, are continuing to press for the truth about their brother's death. They wept as they said the decision had been too long in coming.

Mrs Lewis said: "It has taken us 21 years to secure the thorough, independent inquiry we should have seen immediately after his death. For that reason, our parents are not here with us to see this day."

The original inquest, which Private Benton's family said took less than two hours and heard evidence from six people, recorded a verdict of suicide, and a criminal investigation seven years later found no evidence of third party involvement.

Mr James said he spoke to Mrs Lewis during a telephone call from the court after the decision yesterday. "Tracy and Tony are obviously very relieved," Mr James said. "We knew their parents, particularly their mother, Linda, who had fought so hard for justice for Sean."

Earlier this year Mr and Mrs James endured weeks of trauma as the second inquest into the death of their daughter was held. The inquest ruled that Cheryl had taken her own life.

Mr James added: "This is only the beginning for the family and I hope that the Army and the Ministry of Defence review how they conduct the inquest into Sean's death."

The families of four soldiers, Cheryl James, Sean Benton, James Collinson and Geoff Gray, who all died at the Deepcut barracks, have campaigned for an inquiry into their deaths. They say their children were subjected to severe bullying at the barracks.

Mr James said that the families were still pressing for an inquiry into the culture of bullying at the barracks.

He said: "People will come forward to say how they were treated and it will not be deemed admissible as evidence. Only when we can get a full public inquiry will we be able to uncover what really happened at Deepcut. It is so frustrating."