'We are being kept in dark, says mother

Diane Gray's son Geoff died of two bullet wounds to the head while he was based at the Princess Royal barracks at Deepcut in September 2001.

She said: "Bob Quick, the Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey, told me that he would be very surprised if a public inquiry was not launched as a result of the report.

"He also made it clear that the sheer number of statements that his force had taken, from recruits at barracks all over the country, alleging bullying and abuse, meant that they had been forced to look beyond the deaths at Deepcut. He said that the report would be damning of the entire Army."

Mrs Gray was initially told by the Army that her son's death was suicide.

But an independent report by a ballistics expert showed that he had suffered two bullet wounds to the head - one on either side - making it seemingly impossible that the private could have killed himself. A coroner's court recorded an open verdict.

Mrs Gray said Catterick barracks in Yorkshire had similar problems.

She added: "Until we push for information we are kept in the dark. I always thought we had the best Army in the world but this sort of treatment ... is like something from a third-world dictatorship.

"If these things had happened anywhere other than in the Army there would have been an inquiry straight away."