The parents of a Perth soldier who died mysteriously at Deepcut Barracks have said they will drop their fight for a new inquiry.
Private James Collinson had only been at the Surrey base for six weeks when he was found dead during a routine guard duty shift in March, 2002.
However, an inquest into the 17-year-old’s death ended with an open verdict.
Yvonne Collinson-Heath and Jim Collison have been campaigning for a public inquiry into their son’s death.
They had hoped that files that were recently released by Surrey Police could shed some new light on events surrounding the fatal shooting.
But on Friday, the family said they no longer had the energy to continue their campaign.
A statement issued by the parents said: “Our health is not good. Neither of us has the emotional or physical strength to sit silently through months of evidence about our son, listening to barristers who never knew him attempt to persuade the court that – notwithstanding the absence of evidence – our child was, probably, secretly suicidal and had simply kept this hidden from us.”
James, who would have been 35 this year, was one of four teenagers to die at the barracks between 1995 and 2002.
Privates Sean Benton and Cheryl James died in 1995, followed by Pte Geoff Gray in 2001. Inquests at the time led to a suicide verdict for Pte Benton, and open verdicts for the others.
Three further inquests ended in suicide verdicts for Ptes Benton, James and Gray.
Yvonne, who now lives in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, said: “Deepcut has cast a dark, dark shadow over the British Army.
“We recognise that things have changed from the time that James and the others died. But we also note with alarm recent reports into inappropriate behaviour and the seemingly endless allegations of sexual harassment and worse.
“It is clear that much more still needs to change. Our soldiers deserve better. James deserves better.”
She said she had seen first-hand the toil that inquiries had placed on other Deepcut families. “For some, the inquest process has not been cathartic but, rather has left more unanswered questions,” she said. “Chief among them, for us, will always be why it took four young people to die violently before the British Army and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) admitted that there was something seriously wrong with the way in which they were training, supporting and supervising their trainee soldiers and those tasked with looking after them.”
She said she “wholeheartedly and unreservedly blamed the MoD for ignoring, year after year, and death after death, the evidence that showed that our children were left poorly supervised.
“We will never be able to forgive them,” she added.
An MoD spokesman responded: “Any death is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families and friends.”
A spokesman for Surrey Police added: “Surrey Police acknowledges and has previously accepted the mistakes made during our initial investigation into deaths at Deepcut Barracks, which has resulted in further suffering for the families. This is a matter of deep regret.
“For the past five years, the force has worked to fully support each of the new coronial processes with a dedicated team of officers disclosing thousands of documents.”
He said: “We respect the decision of the Collinson family and are in the process of issuing a formal apology to them.”
