A MOTHER from Kent has spoken publicly for the first time about the death in Afghanistan of her soldier son.

Elaine McCulloch, of King’s Bastion, Gillingham, has made it her mission to find out if his death could have been avoided, including a full answer from MOD officials explaining why he was not wearing a helmet and body armour when he was hit by deadly shrapnel from a Taliban mortar.

Lance Corporal Luke McCulloch, 21, was serving with the Royal Irish Regiment in Sangin, Helmand province, when he was killed. An inquest is yet to be held.

“I was told that in the modern army you couldn’t force soldiers to wear protective clothing,” said Mrs McCulloch.

“I was also told soldiers sometimes don’t wear it because of the heat. But these lads are just 21. They need guidance about these things.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “Safety of our personnel on operations is a prime concern but equipment alone is not the answer.

“Commanders and individuals have to balance the risks as they see fit in order to achieve their mission.”

Mrs McCulloch is also claiming that some of her son’s possessions have not been returned, among them a television, a fridge and an iPod.

The MOD spokesman said: “The unit undertook an investigation into the allegation of missing items and established that Lt Cpl McCulloch had sold a number of items before his deployment and that no theft of his belongings had taken place.”

Luke McCulloch died on September 6 last year when a mortar exploded as he and his comrades were being briefed near the small base they occupied.

Commanding officer Lt Col Michael McGovern described Luke as: “A truly outstanding soldier, very colourful and a real character.

“He was a delight to have around and always the centre of attention.”

“Most recently he completed a six month tour in Baghdad and Southern Iraq. He loved soldiering and was one of the first to volunteer to deploy to Afghanistan just to be with his mates.”

He described the part of Afghanistan where Luke was killed as absolute chaos. “Compared with Sangin, Iraq was a walk in the park.”