Deepcut recruits 'told not to phone home' after Cheryl James death

Pte Cheryl James died at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey in 1995

Soldiers at Deepcut barracks were told not to ring home after the body of a recruit was found, an inquest heard.

Pte Cheryl James, from Llangollen in Denbighshire, was one of four recruits to die from bullet wounds at the Surrey army base between 1995 and 2002.

Her former room-mate Lisa Slattery said she laughed when she first heard the gunshot because she thought Pte James had fired her gun accidentally.

Shortly after a sergeant told female recruits to stay where they were.

Ms Slattery said the sergeant ordered a group of male soldiers to follow him.

"Someone said, 'Don't phone home or anything like that. Go to this room and we can talk about what happened'," she told the hearing in Woking.

Nicholas Moss QC, representing the Ministry of Defence (MoD), said the instruction was presumably because Pte James's parents had not been informed of their daughter's death.

Ms Slattery replied: "I don't know. I remember being really upset because I could not tell my parents."

Pte James had wanted to avoid doing guard duty on the day she died, the inquest heard

Another former recruit said Pte James had asked to be put in a cell for bad behaviour to avoid doing guard duty.

Glen Rankin said: "Cheryl didn't want to be on guard duty the following morning.

"She was asking me to say she had been in trouble and say she was drunk and put her in a cell. She was pretty drunk.

"She was a bit upset I would say. She was pretty adamant she didn't want to go on guard duty for whatever reason that was."

Mr Rankin said he was surprised to see Pte James arrive for guard duty the following day and she appeared "quite happy".

Asked whether Pte James talked about her future in the Army, he replied: "At times I got the impression she didn't like it. Just the place in general put you off being in the Army and how they treated you."

Det Supt Brian Boxall, who led the 2002 Surrey Police investigation into the death of Pte James, was due to appear as a witness on the sixth day of the inquest.

But at the start of the hearing, coroner Brian Barker QC said it had been agreed by all parties that Mr Boxall was no longer required to give evidence.

The inquest continues.

Who were the Deepcut four? Background to the deaths and timeline of events

Privates Benton, James, Gray and Collinson all died at Deepcut between 1995 and 2002