Cheryl James death: Soldier appeal on 20th anniversary

The parents of a soldier who died at Deepcut barracks in Surrey 20 years ago have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

A new inquest into the death of 18-year-old Pte Cheryl James from Denbighshire will be heard in February.

Her body was exhumed in August prior to the new hearing.

The soldier, from Llangollen, was one of four recruits found dead with gunshot wounds at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.

Pte James's parents, Des and Doreen James, made their fresh appeal on a special broadcast for British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) on Friday, which marked the 20th anniversary of her death.

The High Court ordered that a new inquest should be held in 2014, quashing an open verdict finding in the original inquest in 1995.

Speaking in the BFBS interview, Mrs James said: "I'd love to speak to somebody that had something to do with her on the day of her death, or the day before.

"Just speak to someone that had some sort of inkling to what happened."

She said it would help give the family closure on events surrounding the death.

Pte James was undergoing initial training at Deepcut when she was found dead with a bullet wound to her head.

Her parents, who now live in Llanymynech, Powys, believe she had suffered sexual harassment and bullying at the barracks.

Mr James said as long as the new inquest was evidence-led, they would accept its conclusions.

"If it comes as suicide, then it comes. And if it doesn't - it doesn't," he said.

In addition to the death of Pte James, the deaths of three other soldiers at Deepcut - Pte Sean Benton, Pte Geoff Gray and Pte James Collinson - has led to long-standing allegations of bullying at the barracks.

However, a request that new inquests be held into their cases was turned down in May.