THE parents of a North-East soldier who died at the controversial Deepcut barracks last night vowed to take the Army to court to get justice.

Geoff and Diane Gray, whose 17-year-old son, also called Geoff, died in suspicious circumstances, believe they can argue the Army failed in its duty of care.

The couple's move comes as details of documents critical of the military emerged yesterday.

Private Gray, of Seaham, County Durham, died from two gunshot wounds to the head while on guard duty at the Surrey base in September 2001.

A coroner recorded an open verdict after hearing that a figure was seen running away after five shots were fired. No criminal investigation was launched.

Mr Gray said yesterday that documents reported in The Observer newspaper showed that had the Army acted sooner to protect vulnerable recruits his son would not be dead.

The ten previously unpublished documents revealed that top military figures ignored warnings over the care of vulnerable recruits, even after two soldiers had already died at Deepcut.

Mr Gray, who has seen the documents obtained by the newspaper, is setting up a meeting with his barrister and believes the family has a good case.

"I'm sure I will have them," he said. "It's not about money - it's a moral case.

"They have failed dramatically in their duty of care. I had him 17 years. They had him for six months and he's dead."

Mrs Gray said she felt angry, but not surprised, after reading the reports.

"We have known all along the Army has failed. Somebody should be brought to justice," she said.

The documents suggest the Army was already aware of psychological pressures facing recruits before the death of Mr and Mrs Gray's son and the tragedy of Private James Collinson.

He was found dead at the camp in March 2002 with a single gunshot wound to his head.

The documents reportedly show that the Army was struggling to meet its duty of care in the face of overstretched resources.

One of the reports, from April 2001, quotes the former Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Charles Guthrie's comment: "We have coped thus far but, goodness, it has been difficult and we cannot keep doing more and more for less and less. No one can expect us to keep this up."

The comments came less than six years after the deaths from gunshot wounds of Privates Sean Benton and Cheryl James, at Deepcut.

Mr and Mrs Gray are continuing to campaign for a public inquiry into the deaths of the four young recruits.

Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik has secured a 90-minute debate in the House of Commons on the deaths tomorrow.

"He will be putting forward his reasons for a public inquiry and these documents that have come to light over the weekend put even more pressure on," said Mrs Gray.

"How much longer is the Army going to go on saying 'no, no, no'? They have got to face up to this."

Last month, Surrey Police published its long-awaited final report on Deepcut making stinging criticism of life inside the camp.

The police report catalogued instances of bullying at Deepcut "in sufficient quantities to raise concern".

But hopes that the police report would lead to a public inquiry were dashed.

The Ministry of Defence yesterday insisted that lessons had been learned following a review in 2002 by the Deputy Adjutant General (DAG), which looked at the structure of Army training and the use of young soldiers on guard duty.

"The DAG report was a hard-hitting internal report aimed at learning lessons from the four Deepcut deaths," said an MoD spokesman.

"All of the report's recommendations have either been implemented or are in hand."