A fresh inquest into the death of a young female soldier 20 years ago at the notorious Deepcut barracks will hear evidence that she may have been sexually assaulted before her death but will not take into account new allegations of a widespread culture of sexual exploitation at the Army training facility, a coroner has ruled.
The High Court ordered a second inquest into the death of Cheryl James, who was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound at the Surrey barracks in 1995, after a long battle by her family to obtain evidence which it is claimed showed the original investigations by military and civilian police were deeply flawed.
The 18-year-old was one of four recruits to die at the Royal Logistic Corps barracks in Camberley over a seven-year period between 1995 and 2002 amid claims of a culture of intimidation, bullying and sexual abuse.
New evidence emerged last month which suggested Pte James, from Llangollen, north Wales, may have been sexually assaulted or raped shortly before her death. There are also claims that she was ordered to by a superior officer to sleep with another soldier before her death.
At least ten witnesses had also come forward with additional allegations of a culture of sexual exploitation at Deepcut, according to human rights organisation Liberty, which is representing the family. Earlier this month, lawyers for the family asked for this evidence to be heard by the new inquest.
Coroner Brian Barker QC, sitting at Surrey Coroners Court in Woking, told the opening of the inquest that he would hear evidence concerning the alleged sexual assault on Ms James.
But he ruled that the evidence of a wider problem with recruits being coerced into sex by superior officers fell outside the scope of his inquiry.
Mr Barker said he was not conducting a public inquiry into Deepcut and therefore had to restrict his investigation only to events that could have directly impacted on Ms James' death. He said: "This should be a full, frank and fearless investigation into Cheryl James' death. But that doesn't mean its scope is unlimited."
The coroner, who has pledged an "effective and thorough" reinvestigation of the death after the original inquest failed to call key witnesses and took barely an hour to reach an open verdict, said he would revisit his ruling if subsequent evidence touching upon the culture at the barracks could be shown to have had a direct influence on the events surrounding Ms James' death.
Mr Barker has said a key aim of the proceedings will be establish whether a third party was involved in the Pte James' death and what happened on the evening before her death on 27 November 1995.
The family's barrister, Alison Foster QC, told a pre-inquest hearing last month that they had material suggesting Pte James "may have been sexually coerced or raped the night before, or before the time of her death".
The young soldier was undergoing the second part of her initial training when she was found dead with a bullet wound between her right eye and the bridge of her nose. She had been on sentry duty on the night of her death and her SA-80 assault rifle was found by her side.
The families of the four recruits have fought for years to secure fresh hearings to get to the truth of what happened at Deepcut, the main training centre for the Royal Logistic Corps.
Previous investigations by the Royal Military Police (RMP)) and Surrey Police were strongly criticised for failures to collect key evidence and follow up leads. The RMP did no forensic tests on Pte James' clothing, her rifle or the bullet that killed in its initial investigation.
Six months before her death, Pte Sean Benton, 20, from Hastings, East Sussex, was discovered dead with five bullet wounds to his chest. Another young recruit, Pte Geoff Gray, 17, from Hackney, east London, was found with two gunshots wounds to his head in September 2001. Pte James Collinson, 17, from Perth, was discovered with a bullet wound to the head in March 2002.
In 2014, High Court judges ordered a fresh inquest into Pte James's death after they quashed an open verdict recorded in December 1995. Her body was exhumed in August and a post-mortem examination was carried out by two experts.
Lawyers for the James' family argued that an examination of evidence from the original Surrey and RMP investigations, which was obtained after a ruling under the Human Rights Act, showed the inquiries had been inadequate and a fresh hearing was required.
In total, more than 100 witnesses are expected to give evidence during the new inquest.
Mr Barker will also address whether there were "shortcomings" with barracks policies on sexual behaviour, supervision of young females, drugs, alcohol and accommodation.
The inquest is expected to last seven weeks.
