0:00:02 > 0:00:04Deepcut was a place of fear.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06It's where four young soldiers were shot dead.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09One of them was Welsh recruit Cheryl James.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12But did she pull the trigger?
0:00:12 > 0:00:15We hear from those who knew her.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19I can't put Cheryl's state of mind and suicide together.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Still, to now, it doesn't make sense to me.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24We follow Cheryl's parents through her inquest.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28They took on the army in a 20-year fight for the truth.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30People don't want to be honest
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and don't want to be straightforward with you,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36and I just don't imagine that any parent could walk away from it.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40And this week, as they prepare for the verdict, allegations of sexual
0:00:40 > 0:00:43abuse and bullying still overshadow the camp.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48I know lots of women who were sexually and physically assaulted.
0:00:48 > 0:00:53If my dad had any idea what had gone on in that camp,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55I tell you, he'd have gone to jail.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58Tonight, there are calls for a new investigation into the truth
0:00:58 > 0:01:01of what happened to others behind the wire.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03People have never been held to account.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07- Are you saying that we should deal with that?- Yes, I am.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23This is Cheryl James training to become a soldier.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27These pictures have never been broadcast before.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28Cheryl was 18.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31She'd left home in Llangollen to start an army life.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34During her basic training, there was no hint
0:01:34 > 0:01:35of what was to follow at Deepcut.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37'Keep going!'
0:01:37 > 0:01:40Cheryl... It's like everything else,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43she had to do it fast forward, you know?
0:01:43 > 0:01:44There was no in-between.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49She liked to do exciting things and I think the Forces
0:01:49 > 0:01:53probably was the thing that offered that for her.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57And it would be a safe place that she would be, you know,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59taken care of.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11At this checkpoint, Cheryl was on guard with a rifle.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14It was against regulations for her to be there alone.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18But those running Deepcut say they didn't know.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23What happened next is a mystery, but one thing is clear.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26Cheryl went into the woods
0:02:26 > 0:02:29and was found dead with a single bullet wound to the head.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35It was as if the world had just stopped.
0:02:35 > 0:02:40And the first thing they said was that she'd taken her own life.
0:02:42 > 0:02:43And I thought, this is...
0:02:43 > 0:02:45This can't be right, this can't be Cheryl.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47It's the wrong person. It's got to be.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50And that's how it started.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54From then on, we were kept in the dark about everything.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Military and Surrey police officers who went to the scene
0:03:00 > 0:03:03quickly decided this was suicide.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Forensic evidence wasn't gathered, her gun wasn't tested
0:03:07 > 0:03:11for fingerprints and potential witnesses weren't questioned.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15The MoD told her parents that Cheryl was unhappy.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19She wanted to leave the army and was torn between two boyfriends.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23But her parents argued there was no hard evidence to back
0:03:23 > 0:03:25the theory that she'd killed herself.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31It's the first day of Cheryl's new inquest.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33The media is gathering in Woking.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Her father, Des,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39will spend the next two months in a hotel as the case is heard.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I didn't think today was the day to wear a red tie or a blue tie
0:03:44 > 0:03:45or a green tie.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Today was the day to wear a black tie.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Symbolically, it's my last day of mourning.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53We're not mourning any more now, we're fighting.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56He believes this could be his last chance to get at the truth.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Yeah, that's where we are.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00- 'Are you ready to go?' - I am indeed.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02- HE CHUCKLES - As ready as I'll ever be.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07The inquest was always going to be high profile,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10because it's taken the couple 20 years to force the MoD
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and Surrey Police to answer for their actions.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Doreen was too ill to go to the inquest.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20She's at home in Llanymynech in Montgomeryshire,
0:04:20 > 0:04:21recovering from back surgery.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25- 'Do you wish Doreen was here with you?'- Yeah, I do indeed, yeah.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28She won't be blubbing, she's a lot stronger than me, I promise you.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30So...
0:04:30 > 0:04:33She... That's all she says is... Just, you know, be strong.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40I think we have more support than people
0:04:40 > 0:04:42thinking that we're just, you know...
0:04:44 > 0:04:46..grieving parents that won't let go.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02Deepcut is a former training camp in Surrey that's become
0:05:02 > 0:05:03synonymous with scandal.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09Cheryl was the second recruit to die of gunshot wounds in 1995.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Sean Benton died five months before her.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Then in 2001, Geoff Gray.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19And in 2002, James Collinson.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25According to the army, they all committed suicide.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Their families didn't believe that, though,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and the human rights group Liberty joined their fight.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37This is a very, very important human rights case.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40It's because there was a lack of independence and a lack
0:05:40 > 0:05:43of rigour in the investigation of this young woman's death.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Liberty, who represent the Jameses,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48say there was a deeply flawed investigation.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Surrey Police should have led the inquiry.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Instead, they let the military police do it
0:05:53 > 0:05:55on the assumption of suicide.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Within three weeks, there was an inquest.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00That inquest lasted less than one hour.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Barely any witnesses were called to attend.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Cheryl's medical records were not examined,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09key witnesses were not called,
0:06:09 > 0:06:13the family were left completely reeling and they were stonewalled.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19The coroner at the first inquest returned an open verdict,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22but a few weeks later, an army board of inquiry,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24which didn't even involve Des and Doreen,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26decided it was suicide after all.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34The weekend before Cheryl died, she was meant to go home,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39but phoned her mother instead to say she'd been put on guard duty.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40There were no tears.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43You know, I could only see...
0:06:43 > 0:06:47I couldn't see what was going on, I could hear...
0:06:47 > 0:06:53um, her voice, but you know, you hope you know your own child,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58if they're distressed, you know there'll be a quiver or pauses.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00But there was nothing like that.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Cheryl and her brother were adopted by the Jameses
0:07:05 > 0:07:07when she was 17 months old.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12Her parents say she grew into a bubbly, confident girl.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15But the army and police have suggested that Cheryl might
0:07:15 > 0:07:19have been affected by the suicide of her cousin a few years earlier.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21And that she was unhappy.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26It was a happy home and we enjoyed the children and, you know,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30for people to make it look like an unhappy home, just because
0:07:30 > 0:07:35it fits a point that they're trying to put over in this inquest,
0:07:35 > 0:07:36you know, it's not fair.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42After winning a second inquest at the High Court,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Cheryl's parents are asking this coroner, Judge Brian Barker,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49to consider could she have been shot by someone else?
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Or, if she took her own life,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55could the culture at Deepcut have been a factor?
0:07:55 > 0:07:58109 witnesses have been asked to give evidence,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and one of them was former recruit Gavin Trearty.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05And here you are on a parade, this all looks very smart
0:08:05 > 0:08:07- and everybody's well... - Well-drilled.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09A well-drilled line there, isn't it?
0:08:09 > 0:08:11And that's after ten weeks.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14He was going out with Cheryl's best friend at Deepcut
0:08:14 > 0:08:16and he says Cheryl seemed happy.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20She was less than shoulder-high to me,
0:08:20 > 0:08:24so always looking up, smiley, curly hair...
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Nice eyes. You know, just... It's all there, just, yeah, lovely.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Cheryl had two boyfriends.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Some witnesses told the inquest she was upset about her private life.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Another described her commenting
0:08:37 > 0:08:40about how easy it would be to shoot herself.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Gavin saw Cheryl the night before she died.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47I can't put Cheryl's state of mind and suicide together, you know?
0:08:47 > 0:08:49They didn't...
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Still, to now, it doesn't make sense to me,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54that somebody who could be that bubbly the day before,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57to do that the day after never sat right.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02I, along with probably everybody else, just assumed that
0:09:02 > 0:09:06they'd investigated it and that's what they'd come to, yeah.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10You know, at 17, you're not going to start saying,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13"But have you looked at this and have you looked at that?"
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Do you think anyone really wanted to know what you had to say?
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Oh, no, no, definitely not. No.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Military and civilian officers admitted there were flaws
0:09:21 > 0:09:23in the original investigation.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27One retired Surrey police inspector told the inquest if he was
0:09:27 > 0:09:31asked to investigate again, he'd do things differently.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35After the fourth death, that of James Collinson in 2002,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37the families of the dead recruits
0:09:37 > 0:09:42and the media were demanding to know what was going on at the camp.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Surrey Police began reinvestigating the deaths and it wasn't
0:09:46 > 0:09:50until then that they interviewed Gavin about what he remembered.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54The impression I got was that it was just to gather information
0:09:54 > 0:09:55to build a picture, but we were told
0:09:55 > 0:09:58it was still a suicide investigation.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01No-one was being accused of anything or there was no
0:10:01 > 0:10:04suspicious circumstances. It was as was.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06So this wasn't an open inquiry,
0:10:06 > 0:10:08exploring other avenues, other leads?
0:10:08 > 0:10:13No, no. It was a suicide before and it was a suicide afterwards,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16spoken as well, we never got the feeling of anything different.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22At the latest inquest, the Surrey Police legal team said the
0:10:22 > 0:10:26reinvestigation had been thorough, professional and open-minded.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28But for two decades,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Cheryl's parents have never stopped wondering and challenging.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35By asking questions about what had happened to Cheryl,
0:10:35 > 0:10:36they'd also found more.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39A lot more.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Including allegations of serious physical and sexual abuse
0:10:43 > 0:10:44against other recruits.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Some told police they had been bullied and even raped by those
0:10:48 > 0:10:52whose duty it was to supervise them and turn them into soldiers.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Over the years, calls for a public enquiry
0:10:58 > 0:11:01into what happened at Deepcut have been rejected.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05This coroner decided Cheryl's inquest wasn't the place
0:11:05 > 0:11:08to hear the wider allegations of abuse either.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12But those who say they suffered won't be silenced.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17I remember standing there taking that photograph.
0:11:19 > 0:11:20God, I look dead young.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23I wanted to spend my whole life,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25it just seemed my whole life was the Army.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27And I didn't want anything else.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31Janette Lang passed through Deepcut a few months
0:11:31 > 0:11:34before Cheryl arrived in 1995.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38The Army was going through big changes at the time.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Women were beginning to train
0:11:40 > 0:11:43and serve alongside men for the first time in its history.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46I was very fit. I worked hard.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49In fact, I worked probably harder than most of the lads
0:11:49 > 0:11:51because I had something to prove.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56At Deepcut, there weren't enough instructors to look after
0:11:56 > 0:11:59the hundreds of young trainees.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Janette says some NCOs abused their power
0:12:02 > 0:12:06to have sex with recruits, strictly against Army rules.
0:12:07 > 0:12:09There was girls that were consenting
0:12:09 > 0:12:11and then there was the ones that didn't consent.
0:12:12 > 0:12:13And their life was hell.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18The NCOs in question, they were all walking around
0:12:18 > 0:12:20like Cock of the North.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Like, during the daytime, they'd look at the girls as if to say,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25"I know what you did last night
0:12:25 > 0:12:28"and I know what you're going to get again tonight," kind of thing.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30The girls'd all be crapping themselves.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34While I was at that camp, I knew of a woman who was raped.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38This NCO had been harassing her for a while.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42One night he went in...
0:12:43 > 0:12:44..to the room.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47And we were all out.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Forced himself on her.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53It changed her as a person obviously.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57And not long after that, then she got posted out.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01She says the rape allegation was never officially reported
0:13:01 > 0:13:05to the Army or police, because her friend was too scared.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11I know of lots of women who were sexually
0:13:11 > 0:13:12and physically assaulted.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Myself included, more physically.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Mentally abused.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22She says many felt there was nowhere to turn for support.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25If you want to put in an official complaint,
0:13:25 > 0:13:27then you'll go through the chain of command.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31And the chain of command started with the NCOs who were doing
0:13:31 > 0:13:34all the trouble in the first place, so...
0:13:34 > 0:13:37that is basically where it started and ended.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40For years the MoD denied
0:13:40 > 0:13:43there was a problem with the culture at Deepcut.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Cheryl James's parents were told, when she died,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49there was no bullying or disciplinary issues at the barracks.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55And Janette says, 20 years ago, her parents had no idea either.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57If my dad knew then...
0:13:59 > 0:14:02..had any idea what had gone on in that camp,
0:14:02 > 0:14:04I tell you, he would have gone to jail.
0:14:05 > 0:14:06And that's the truth.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Cos my dad never brought me up to put up with that.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14They've got away with everything.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17They did what they did with them young girls.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20And they've carried on as normal.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22They've soldiered on as normal.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Stories like Janette's only began to emerge from Deepcut
0:14:29 > 0:14:33during the reinvestigation by Surrey Police in 2002.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38They traced hundreds of recruits who'd passed through Deepcut
0:14:38 > 0:14:43since the mid-1990s and what they were told was disturbing.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45There were scores of allegations
0:14:45 > 0:14:48about serious sexual and physical abuse,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51the sheer skill of which wasn't made public
0:14:51 > 0:14:56until four years later when Nicholas Blake QC carried out a review.
0:14:57 > 0:14:59So, what had Surrey Police done about it?
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Well, they wouldn't say then and they won't say now.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07And despite our repeated requests, they refused to tell us
0:15:07 > 0:15:11if any of those accused have been questioned or prosecuted.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14I think it's absolutely imperative that we get
0:15:14 > 0:15:17to the truth of what has happened.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20Bridgend MP Madeline Moon sits on the House of Commons
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Defence Select Committee.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25And she's been challenging the MoD over bullying
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and the way it treats recruits for years.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31She says it's time the police and Army
0:15:31 > 0:15:33gave the full facts about Deepcut.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37If they carried out a service enquiry,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39I'd understand why they wouldn't explain that.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Because that, in a sense, would have been the right thing to do.
0:15:48 > 0:15:49If, instead...
0:15:50 > 0:15:53..all of that evidence was put in a box and put on a shelf
0:15:53 > 0:15:54and walked away from...
0:15:57 > 0:16:00..then justice hasn't been done.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01To anyone.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06It was a Labour government that commissioned the Blake Review.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11The dossier contains allegations from the mid-'90s to 2002.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16Rape, indecent assault and violent attacks are listed.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18One woman claimed she was gang raped.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22The review found clear evidence of foul abuse
0:16:22 > 0:16:26and a failure to identify potential risks to recruits.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28But it couldn't force witnesses to give evidence.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31It wasn't a public enquiry.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34And that, to Des James and to other families,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37makes it a flawed document.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Do you regret that when the opportunity arose that
0:16:41 > 0:16:44that wasn't made into a full public enquiry?
0:16:44 > 0:16:48With the benefit of hindsight, they should...
0:16:48 > 0:16:52There should have been a more open and more transparent investigation
0:16:52 > 0:16:54of what happened at Deepcut.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Des and Doreen wanted to know was Cheryl being bullied or
0:16:59 > 0:17:03sexually harassed and could that have driven her to suicide?
0:17:05 > 0:17:08One shocking new allegation for her parents to endure
0:17:08 > 0:17:12was that this man, former troop sergeant Andrew Gavaghan,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15had ordered Cheryl to have sex with a fellow soldier.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20Both the men vehemently denied it at the inquest.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Their accuser, Mark Beards, a former recruit,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27was described by Surrey Police as a liar and a fantasist.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Former Sgt Gavaghan told the inquest he didn't know Cheryl
0:17:32 > 0:17:34and had never bullied her.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36And there's no conclusive evidence
0:17:36 > 0:17:38anyone sexually abused her at Deepcut.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43The base is still the home of the Royal Logistics Corps,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46although the base is no longer used for training.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49Much might have changed here, but the brigadier
0:17:49 > 0:17:52now in charge of Army's personal services department, John Donnelly,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55came to the inquest to make a dramatic admission.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59Brigadier Donnelly apologised to the Jameses
0:17:59 > 0:18:01for past failures at Deepcut.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04He admitted that there hadn't been enough staff
0:18:04 > 0:18:06to look after young recruits,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and that some NCOs had exceeded their powers
0:18:09 > 0:18:12by handing out guard duty as a form of punishment.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16He also admitted that Cheryl should never have been told
0:18:16 > 0:18:19to go on guard duty alone with a weapon.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23It broke the rules, and the risks hadn't been known at the time.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26For that, he said, he was sorry.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34It was a big moment for Des, who's waited years for answers.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I accepted and I shook hands with Brigadier Donnelly,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43because I do think that he's trying very, very hard
0:18:43 > 0:18:45to make the changes that are needed.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51But, you know, we mustn't lose sight of the fact that they knew
0:18:51 > 0:18:54everything that they knew on the first day of the inquest.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56To allow them to apologise...
0:18:56 > 0:18:58They knew ten years earlier in Blake,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01so why have we spent ten years of MoD denial?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03That's the question there.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05But at the inquest, Des came in for criticism.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08John Beggs, barrister for Surrey Police,
0:19:08 > 0:19:13suggested that in criticising its reinvestigation in 2002,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16he'd distracted the Force during its hunt for the killer
0:19:16 > 0:19:17of schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21That's a really shocking statement.
0:19:21 > 0:19:22I can...
0:19:24 > 0:19:25SHE SIGHS
0:19:25 > 0:19:30I cannot believe that someone could be so insensitive.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32You can only say, "And if it was your child?
0:19:33 > 0:19:35"What would you want to do?
0:19:35 > 0:19:39"Would you want to fight and fight and fight again for justice?
0:19:39 > 0:19:40"Of course you would."
0:19:41 > 0:19:43Totally inappropriate.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48Des has been asking questions about how his daughter died
0:19:48 > 0:19:50for longer than she was alive.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55In the hills above their home, there's solitude but no peace.
0:19:55 > 0:20:00I do find the having time to just clear your head a bit, that helps.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04I became obsessive, I needed to read every statement,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I needed to hear every testimony.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10I couldn't miss anything and I'm still like that.
0:20:10 > 0:20:12You're not going to have another chance to understand it,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16so you'd better do a good job and don't make any excuses for not doing it, so...
0:20:18 > 0:20:21He and Doreen took the agonising decision
0:20:21 > 0:20:22to have Cheryl's body exhumed
0:20:22 > 0:20:26in search for any remaining forensic clues.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34The exhumation was horrific. Um...
0:20:34 > 0:20:38You know, there's no doubting that,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40and if it had been the other way round, Cheryl would have
0:20:40 > 0:20:43done this for me and that gives me great consolation, you know?
0:20:43 > 0:20:45I think she'll forgive me anything
0:20:45 > 0:20:48as long as we get to the bottom of this.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Bullet fragments from the same kind of weapon as Cheryl's
0:20:56 > 0:20:58were recovered from her remains.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Original postmortem photographs were re-examined.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06Experts for the police and MoD said soot marks around the bullet wound
0:21:06 > 0:21:09proved the gun was fired at very close range.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12The position of her body and the gun, they said,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16pointed to suicide, but her parents' expert disagreed.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Forensic pathologist Dr Derek Pounder told the coroner
0:21:19 > 0:21:23that in his opinion, Cheryl could have been killed by someone else.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26And in his view, the black marks surrounding the bullet wound
0:21:26 > 0:21:30had been caused by either bruising or dirt and not soot,
0:21:30 > 0:21:35suggesting, he said, that the gun hadn't been fired at close range
0:21:35 > 0:21:38and that someone else's finger could have been on the trigger.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Cheryl didn't leave a suicide note.
0:21:46 > 0:21:50So what was her frame of mind the morning she died?
0:21:51 > 0:21:53This is Paul Wilkinson.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55He was Cheryl's new boyfriend.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58He told the inquest they'd had sex the night before,
0:21:58 > 0:22:00at a party on the base.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Another former soldier, Andrew Carter, was there, too.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07There's the male accommodation at the back.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- Into the far left-hand side, at the back.- Here?
0:22:10 > 0:22:14This is the first time he's returned to Deepcut in 20 years.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17It's a place he remembers he was desperate to leave.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22There was no feeling of safety in the camp.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26And within a few days of being here, my healthy mind
0:22:26 > 0:22:30told me back then that I needed to get out of the camp
0:22:30 > 0:22:32as quickly as possible.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Now living in Germany, he returned to tell the inquest how Cheryl
0:22:35 > 0:22:39propositioned him while she was having sex with Paul Wilkinson.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43He was quite agitated with her proposal.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46- He was a little bit annoyed. - What did he say?
0:22:46 > 0:22:47I can't...
0:22:47 > 0:22:51If he mumbled something under his breath or it was maybe
0:22:51 > 0:22:52something like...
0:22:52 > 0:22:54"What was that supposed to be?"
0:22:54 > 0:22:59Maybe very few words, more body language, if anything.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01- Did they stop having sex?- Yes.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03And what happens next?
0:23:03 > 0:23:08And then Cheryl asked me directly then if I could
0:23:08 > 0:23:13accompany her downstairs to check if there was any NCOs there,
0:23:13 > 0:23:14doing the patrols, doing any...
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Was Cheryl coming on to you?
0:23:19 > 0:23:20Yes.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22And Wilkinson knew that?
0:23:22 > 0:23:23Yes.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26The next morning, Cheryl was on guard duty
0:23:26 > 0:23:29when Paul Wilkinson went to look for her.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32He told the inquest they spent about 40 minutes talking.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35They didn't argue and she was fine when he left her.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39The coroner ordered that Paul Wilkinson should be
0:23:39 > 0:23:42treated as a witness, not as a suspect.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45And when he gave evidence, Mr Wilkinson said that he had some
0:23:45 > 0:23:48difficulty remembering the detail of what had happened that morning,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53because he'd since suffered a rugby injury that affected his memory.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55For Cheryl's parents,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58that means there are questions that remain unanswered.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02My heart goes out to them both.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07They've been robbed. They've lost their daughter.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10They have lost the last 20 years where they should be
0:24:10 > 0:24:15having maybe grandchildren and they've had to spend time
0:24:15 > 0:24:19reflecting and fighting on a daily basis now, for 20 years.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21It's unfathomable.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27No-one from the army wanted to be interviewed for our programme.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29But we were told Cheryl's death has had a profound effect
0:24:29 > 0:24:32on the way it views its duty of care to recruits.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37OFSTED now independently inspects its training sites,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40which were recently rated "Good" or "Excellent".
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Because of what happened at Deepcut,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48an ombudsman service was established to investigate
0:24:48 > 0:24:51the handling of complaints from forces personnel.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Change might have begun, but it's not quick enough, say Liberty.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59In order to access the ombudsman,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03you have to go through the entire internal service complaints system
0:25:03 > 0:25:07and it is interminable and bureaucratic,
0:25:07 > 0:25:09such that I would feel...
0:25:09 > 0:25:11Sometimes I feel my best advice is
0:25:11 > 0:25:15don't bother complaining, because I do not doubt that the ombudsman,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18when she gets her hands on the complaint,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21will be able to conduct a rigorous and independent and fair investigation.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25The problem is, by the time it's got to that point, the person making
0:25:25 > 0:25:30the complaint is so ground down by it that they may have given up.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34The new services ombudsman declined to give us an interview,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36but she said she recognises
0:25:36 > 0:25:38there has been a lack of confidence in the system.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42However, substantial reforms are underway,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45although it'll need more time to judge whether her powers go
0:25:45 > 0:25:50far enough and whether the changes are effective or not.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56Cheryl's inquest has caused many to reflect on their time at Deepcut.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Jeanette Lange, who wanted to serve her country,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00never completed training at the barracks.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04She was thrown out of the army for assaulting an NCO.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06I attacked him because he attacked me first.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08He pinned me up against the wall.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10And then I blacked out after that.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16I did everything that I suppose I shouldn't have done, as a girl.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18I should have just put up with it(!)
0:26:18 > 0:26:20But I didn't.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23And I ended up getting kicked out because of it.
0:26:23 > 0:26:25It ended her career.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28But what about the soldiers who stand accused of
0:26:28 > 0:26:31so many wrongs by so many former recruits?
0:26:31 > 0:26:35People need to be made accountable for what they put us through.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39They absolutely have to, because...
0:26:40 > 0:26:42That's... You can't go through life
0:26:42 > 0:26:44doing that to people and getting away with it.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46You just can't.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47The army says it can't comment
0:26:47 > 0:26:49about allegations from former recruits.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52It says they should report them to the police,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54if they haven't already done so.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58But Surrey Police refused to comment on any of the issues we've raised.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02Madeline Moon is asking the Defence Secretary to demand
0:27:02 > 0:27:05answers from the army and police about the dossier.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11This is a time and a place in which we can go back and look
0:27:11 > 0:27:13and find out what happened.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Are there still lessons we need to learn here?
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Are there still people who, for goodness' sake,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23might even still be serving,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26that we need to look at their behaviour?
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Well, aside from the lessons, there might also be
0:27:29 > 0:27:32- just the straightforward matter of crimes that were committed... - They did.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35..that people have never been held to account for.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Are you saying we should deal with that?
0:27:38 > 0:27:39Yes, I am.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49After such a long, hard battle for the truth,
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Cheryl's parents haven't found all the answers.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55But they don't regret the fight.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59I'm sure Cheryl was smiling at us.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04That's all that keeps you going.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08It's what any parent does. If it's your child, you fight till the end.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15I'm hoping now that this will have made a pathway for those parents.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20They need to know that there's some help out there, you know,
0:28:20 > 0:28:22that they will get justice eventually.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30On Friday, Des will return to the inquest for the verdict.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33I've every respect for the judge and I think...
0:28:33 > 0:28:37I think it's possible for us to acknowledge that
0:28:37 > 0:28:41we've gone as far as we could go, given what we have.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44While he doesn't know whether anyone will be held to account
0:28:44 > 0:28:48for Cheryl's death, he doesn't want it to have been in vain.
0:28:48 > 0:28:55My greatest hope of all is that somewhere in the midst of this,
0:28:55 > 0:28:57a legacy can be identified for Cheryl, you know?
0:28:57 > 0:29:00That they can say...
0:29:00 > 0:29:05you know, that was created, that was caused because of Cheryl James.
0:29:06 > 0:29:07That would be good.