Fresh inquest to be held into death of Pte Geoff Gray at Deepcut

By: Kevin Rawlinson – The Guardian – Tuesday 28 November 2017 12.40 GMT

High court rules it is ‘in the interests of justice’ to grant family of soldier who died 16 years ago new inquest

The family of a soldier who died at Deepcut barracks 16 years ago have won a high court action for a new inquest.

Pte Geoff Gray was 17 when he died on 17 September 2001. He was found with two gunshot wounds to his head and, in March the following year, a coroner delivered an open verdict that did not include a narrative conclusion.

His family have never accepted that outcome and, in 2014, demanded access to files they believed would shed more light on the circumstances surrounding his death at the army barracks.

They were buoyed by the news that emerged shortly beforehand that the high court had granted the family of Cheryl James, another soldier who died at Deepcut, permission to launch a legal bid to quash the open verdict given at her inquest after they gained access to fresh evidence.
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Though the Gray family’s request for the files was denied, the attorney general, Jeremy Wright, granted them the right to apply to the high court for a new inquest, saying he was satisfied fresh evidence had come to light.

On Tuesday, Lord Justice Bean, Mrs Justice Carr and Judge Mark Lucraft granted the application at a hearing in London. They ruled it was “necessary or desirable in the interests of justice” for a fresh inquest to be held.

After the proceedings, the soldier’s mother, Diane Gray, said:

“Our son died in Deepcut in 2001 and there was at best a cursory inquest in 2002. This time, we hope there will be a full and meaningful inquest into his death. He was 17 years old and died serving his country. It’s time his country served him and the truth be told.”

With her husband, who is also named Geoff, standing next to her, she thanked their legal team, led by John Cooper QC, who she said had waded through thousands of pages of evidence “and pieced together new and compelling evidence to put before the court”.

She added:

“We would like to thank the judges for their consideration and for the verdict we have been waiting on for so long.”

Gray’s death followed those of Ptes Sean Benton and James six years earlier. In 2002, a year after Gray died, the body of Pte James Collinson was also found at Deepcut barracks.

The government has previously ruled out a public inquiry into the deaths there. In June this year, a second inquest into Cheryl James’s death found she had shot herself.
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The judges ordered the quashing of the 2002 inquest

“together with the verdict and findings of that inquest”.

Bean, announcing the decision of the court, said:

“We will order that Her Majesty’s senior coroner for Surrey, or such other coroner as the lord chief justice shall appoint at the request of the chief coroner, is to conduct an investigation … into the death of Private Gray.”

“The scope of that inquest, and the issue of whether the coroner should, or should not, sit with a jury, should be a matter for the coroner.”

Bean said the coroner had taken no active part in the application, and correspondence indicated the Ministry of Defence “do not wish to contest an order for a fresh inquest”. Nevertheless, he added, it was for the judges to satisfy themselves one should go ahead.

Last year, a judge also gave the go-ahead for a fresh inquest into the death of Benton, which is due to take place at Surrey coroner’s court in January. Benton, 20, was found with five bullet wounds to his chest.