A HIGH-FLYING Army cadet who was found hanged at the prestigious Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst had texted a friend to say she feared she was going to be kicked off the course.

A coroner heard Olivia Perks sent the message after she was warned for failing to return to her barracks at the RMA following a weekend party.

The pre-hearing inquest review into 21-year-old Olivia Perks' death ruled that the friend, Sophie Gibbons, should be called to give evidence to the full hearing next year.

Olivia's body was found hanged in her room at the Royal Military Academy on February 6.

She had earlier been given a minor disciplinary warning over failing to return to her barracks following the RMA party which had apparently left her very worried.

The Berkshire coroner Heidi Connor will consider Article Two of the European Commission on Human Rights as part of the full inquest to see whether it had been breached in the days leading up to Olivia hanging herself.

She had been in the last term of a 44-week officer training course at the Royal Military Academy when her body was found by Sergeant Major Richard Pask.

Barrister Michael Rawlinson QC, representing Olivia’s mother, suggested to the coroner sitting in Reading that a further list of witnesses should be called in respect of messages found from Olivia.

Mr Rawlinson said: “Olivia thought she was going to be discharged in the critical period between February 2 and February 6. The friend should be called as a live witness and give evidence to the inquest.”

The inquest heard Mr Rawlinson convince the coroner he had already obtained all of the messages from WhatsApp, Instagram, text message and Google and could send them to the Ministry of Defence representative, Edward Pleeth, immediately to aid the decision on which witnesses to obtain statements from.

Mrs Connor said that she was initially unhappy at the prospect of trawling through all of the 21-year-old's messages, suggesting that she would deem 90 per cent of them irrelevant to the investigation.

However, she became convinced following an address from Mr Rawlinson who suggested it would aid the witness list considerably.

She said: "We must maintain the balance between keeping dignity and the need for evidence. Just to be clear, please obtain all the messages within the next seven days.”

Victoria Sedgwick, solicitor at Bolt Burdon Kemp, acting for Olivia's mother, said: "Nothing can compare to the pain my client has experienced, and continues to live with, having lost Olivia.

"The Pre-Inquest Review Hearing set the scope for the subsequent investigations. We want lessons to be learned, should opportunities exist for doing so, to avoid other families having to face the reality with which my client is now living."

The pre-inquest review was adjourned until January 23.