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Deepcut inquest: soldier denies having sex with recruit Deepcut inquest: soldier denies having sex with recruit
(about 1 hour later)
A soldier has denied having sex with an 18-year-old female private who was found shot in the head at Deepcut barracks.A soldier has denied having sex with an 18-year-old female private who was found shot in the head at Deepcut barracks.
Private Ian Atkinson said he and Private Cheryl James had only ever “kissed - that was it” and this happened on just one occasion. Pte Ian Atkinson said he and Pte Cheryl James had only ever “kissed – that was it” and this happened on just one occasion.
The inquest into James’s death in November 1995 has been told by fellow squaddie Mark Beards that Sergeant Andrew Gavaghan had ordered her to go into a room with Atkinson to have sex the night before she died. The inquest into James’s death in November 1995 has been told by fellow squaddie Mark Beards that Sgt Andrew Gavaghan had ordered her to go into a room with Atkinson to have sex the night before she died.
Describing it as a “drunken kiss”, Atkinson told Woking coroner’s court: “We kissed - that was it. It never went any further. It was just a kiss. It was a week or two before the death of Cheryl. We had been down the Naafi, down the bar. We had a drink and all that but it never went any further.” Describing it as a “drunken kiss”, Atkinson told Woking coroner’s court: “We kissed – that was it. It never went any further. It was just a kiss. It was a week or two before the death of Cheryl. We had been down the Naafi, down the bar. We had a drink and all that but it never went any further.”
James was one of four recruits to die at the army training camp in Surrey over a seven-year period.James was one of four recruits to die at the army training camp in Surrey over a seven-year period.
Atkinson said he was shocked when he heard about Beards’s allegations for the first time last year as preparations were being made for this inquest. He told the court: “I do not know why he would do that or what he was thinking.”Atkinson said he was shocked when he heard about Beards’s allegations for the first time last year as preparations were being made for this inquest. He told the court: “I do not know why he would do that or what he was thinking.”
Asked by Nicholas Moss, for the Ministry of Defence, about the allegations, he said: “I could not believe it. I was shocked. I really did not know why he has done this. We kissed, that was all that happened. It never went any further and it never happened again.”Asked by Nicholas Moss, for the Ministry of Defence, about the allegations, he said: “I could not believe it. I was shocked. I really did not know why he has done this. We kissed, that was all that happened. It never went any further and it never happened again.”
Moss said: “What is your view about men who coerce women into sex?”Moss said: “What is your view about men who coerce women into sex?”
Atkinson said: “I do not like it.”Atkinson said: “I do not like it.”
Atkinson said he and Beards, who left the Army in 1996, “were not best friends by any means” and that he considered him to be someone who was “fairly new and just latched on”. Atkinson said he and Beards, who left the army in 1996, “were not best friends by any means” and that he considered him to be someone who was “fairly new and just latched on”.
Earlier Atkinson told the court that he and James had gone their separate ways because “there was nothing there” and that she “did not want anything else to happen”. He described James as a “quiet girl, quite keen to get on”. He also said he had heard that James was seeing someone from a different barracks and she had slept with another Deepcut soldier, Private Paul Wilkinson. Earlier Atkinson told the court that he and James had gone their separate ways because “there was nothing there” and that she “did not want anything else to happen”. He described James as a “quiet girl, quite keen to get on”. He also said he had heard that James was seeing someone from a different barracks and she had slept with another Deepcut soldier, Pte Paul Wilkinson.