The mother of a Perth soldier who died in mysterious circumstances has made a fresh call for a public inquiry as the 10th anniversary of his death approaches.
Private James Collinson was just 17 when his dead body was discovered at Deepcut barracks in Surrey with a single gunshot wound in his head.
Although the army insists he committed suicide, his family have steadfastly maintained there was a darker reason for his death, pointing out three other young soldiers were found dead at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.
Calls for a public inquiry from the families of the young recruits have gone unheeded but James’ mother, Yvonne Heath formerly Collinson hopes the March anniversary will refocus minds on what she claims are still unexplained events.
She said facts previously held back may now come to light because of the passage of time.
”We’ll always be looking for answers until such time as we actually get them but sometimes we don’t know where there is left to look,” she said. ”Ten years on, somebody not in a position to speak out at the time may be able to do so now.
”I would just urge them, if they have something to tell us, come forward now because until we get to the bottom of what happened, we will never be able to rest.”
Yvonne continued: “I was listening to a mother tell her story about her daughter’s murder 26 years ago and someone has just been convicted for that, so it shows it’s never too late.
”We don’t have the public support we used to because it’s not news any more and it’s only us that still have it in our minds. Maybe the 10th anniversary will stir something up.
”Our legal team are still working away in the background on our behalf to see what avenues we can go down legally but we don’t know what route that will take yet. Ultimately, we want to achieve a public inquiry but how we get there in the end is the big question.”
James had been at Deepcut for just six weeks after joining the Royal Logistics Corp when tragedy struck during a routine guard duty shift on March 23, 2002. He was found dead at around 9.30pm, just hours after his mother had seen him in what she insists was good spirits.
Yvonne moved to Ellesmore Port, near Liverpool, in April, having remarried four years ago and is now trying to catch up on time lost during the lengthy fight for facts about her son’s death. She is still in touch with James’s dad, her first husband, Jim, and they will visit Deepcut together on the March 23 anniversary.
She said: ”Although we split up before James died, we always said we might have our differences but we both want justice for our son and we came together to fight for that. 2002/ 03 was just 100% James and everything else was pushed to the side and it was a very, very difficult time for everybody.
”It went on into the time of James’s inquest in 2006 when we were down in Swindon and missed our grandson being born back in Perth. We’re making up for lost time now, though. I don’t think it gets easier and I don’t agree that time heals but it does teach you how to cope.”
Amid concerns about bullying at the barracks, Surrey Police launched an inquiry into James’ death, as well as those of three fellow recruits, Privates Sean Benton and Cheryl James in 1995 and Private Geoff Gray in 2001. All had died from gunshot wounds, with the army concluding each case was a suicide. The police found no evidence of foul play and the government-commissioned Blake Report reached the same conclusion.
Photo by Andrew Parsons/PA