Rose Gentle plans to sue the Ministry of Defence

Rose Gentle believes the MoD was negligent and breached its duty of care towards her 19-year-old son.

Gordon Gentle, who served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, died in a roadside explosion in Basra in June.

Mrs Gentle, from Glasgow, believes her son's death could have been avoided if his patrol had been equipped with an electronic signal jamming device.

This could have stopped the bomb being detonated.

She has now instructed John Cooper - the barrister who represented relatives of the soldiers who died at the Deepcut Army Barracks - to handle her case.

Sympathy and understanding

Mr Cooper confirmed he was advising the family on the prospect of legal action.

He said he was "optimistic" they had a case.

"Given that these soldiers have given their lives in brave and courageous circumstances the least one can expect from the MoD is a high level of sympathy and understanding towards the families," Mr Cooper said.

"We also expect that when young people are put in the trust of the armed forces that they will be cared for within reasonable levels and that trust should not be thrown back in the faces of their families.

"The MoD has a duty to provide soldiers with the equipment to protect themselves and carry out their duties with the minimum risk to themselves - if they do not provide that equipment then that is a breach of their duty."

Gordon Gentle was killed in Basra in June

If the case is successful it will be the first time the UK Government has been sued over the death of a soldier in combat.

Earlier this week Mrs Gentle stormed out of a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott after accusing him of "talking rubbish".

Mrs Gentle and her 14-year-old daughter Maxine were unexpectedly invited to meet Mr Prescott as they visited Downing Street to deliver a letter protesting against the war to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Defensive equipment

Mrs Gentle was furious that a hand-written letter of condolence from Mr Blair only arrived almost seven weeks after her son's death.

But within minutes of what was described as a "forceful" chat with Mr Prescott, Mrs Gentle walked out in disgust.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "Obviously Mrs Gentle will take the action she feels most appropriate.