Deepcut wounds 'not self-inflicted'

The father of one of the four recruits to die at the Army's Deepcut barracks described as "devastating" independent evidence which suggested her gunshot wound was highly unlikely to have been self inflicted.

Des James, whose 18-year-old daughter Cheryl died from a bullet wound to the head at the barracks in 1995, said he and his wife had been completely shocked by the findings of an independent investigation into the Deepcut deaths.

Mr James said the report, by independent expert Frank Swann, had left Surrey Police with "egg on their faces" and called again for a public inquiry into the affair.

Surrey Police last night dramatically postponed a planned briefing to disclose the findings of their year-long investigation into the Deepcut deaths, after Mr Swann announced the conclusions of his inquiry.

Mr Swann, who was hired by the families of the recruits, said it was "highly unlikely" that many of the fatal bullets were fired by the soldiers themselves.

After studying his conclusions, Surrey Police admitted there were "differences" between his findings and those of the other forensic experts they consulted, and decided to call off Tuesday's briefing.

The force had been expected to say it had found no evidence of third party involvement in any of the deaths.

Mr James, who now lives near Oswestry, said Frank Swann had not offered him a theory as to why his daughter had died, but had only said he thought it was "highly unlikely" the bullet wound which killed her was self inflicted.

"To be honest, that part of it is devastating," said Mr James. "To have to change your mindset entirely, to think that somebody else may have been involved in her death, is impossible. I cannot get my head around it.

"It has come as a bit of a shock to be honest. We did not expect it and we were not given any indication by Frank Swann that that was what he had found. It creates more questions than answers."

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