THE mother of Luke McCulloch, the Kent soldier who died in Afghanistan, has a meeting with defence minister Des Browne tomorrow.

Elaine McCulloch-Brandt, of Kings Bastion, Gillingham, believes many questions remain to be answered.

An inquest has ruled that L Cpl McCulloch, of the Royal Irish Regiment, was unlawfully killed. He died when a mortar exploded in a compound in Helmand Province on September 6 last year.

Mrs McCulloch-Brandt said: "At the time Luke was killed, orders had been given for soldiers to go under 'hard cover' when they were not on duty," she said.

"But they were sleeping in the open. Orders had also been given for the men to wear body armour and helmets. So why was my son wearing shorts and flip-flops?"

Before the inquest, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said it was impossible for men to wear helmets and body armour all the time in Afghanistan because of the heat and impractical for soldiers to remain under cover when not on duty.

But evidence emerged during the inquest that orders for these measures had been issued.