Daughter is No2 to die at camp.

Byline: By Daniel Thomson

The mother of a teenage Army recruit found dead at her barracks has called for an investigation after it emerged that her daughter was the second young soldier to have died at the base.

A Deepcut-style row has erupted after it emerged 19-year-old Krystle Cookson from Middlesbrough and a male soldier had been found hanged within a year of each other at the Royal School of Signals base in Blandford, Dorset.

Patricia Cookson says she believes her daughter's death in May 2004 had been caused by bullies, and called for a Government-led inquiry into bullying across the Armed forces.

Michael Williams, 18, was found dead in February this year. His parents refuse to believe their son would have killed himself.

Brigadier John Terrington, who is commandant of the camp, ordered an investigation and brought in extra staff to supervise trainees, but said they had found "no link" between the deaths.

Mrs Cookson, 49, said: "My daughter was home about three or four weeks before she died.

"She said `the other girls are ganging up on me', but she wouldn't tell me who.

"I knew she'd had problems with this one girl, but she didn't want to speak out because she knew she'd be branded a troublemaker.

"I told her I was going to speak to somebody in the Army, but she begged me not to."

An inquest into Krystle's death recorded an open verdict, but her mother has claimed that the investigation was not extensive enough.

She said: "I can't believe that nobody did anything wrong.

"Krystle was just not the type to take her own life.

"She was a sporty, independent woman who was actually doing very well. This was not examined enough.

"I've met other parents, including some from Deepcut, and there is clearly a problem there.

"You want justice, but you don't know what steps you can take."

Michael's mother Diane, 43, of Llanelli, South Wales, said: "Suicide was not the cause of Michael's death. It is all so unfair."

The deaths have further damaged the Army's reputation following the Deepcut scandal where four recruits were killed or committed suicide between 1995 and 2002 ( including Private Geoff Gray, 17, of Seaham, County Durham.

Brigadier Terrington said: "The deaths of Signaller Cookson and Signaller Williams were a tragedy and we are still left with the deep concern over why they chose to end their lives the way they did.

"But they were the first undetermined deaths that we have had at this training camp for 10 years out of 60,000 recruits."