In grief mom to sue Blair government

An angry and distraught mother is Tony Blair government's latest challenge.

The mom of a 19-year-old Briton killed in a roadside blast in Iraq is suing the British government for failing to care for its soldiers, The Guardian reports.

The lawsuit being prepared by the family of Gordon Gentle would be the first time the British government has been sued over the death of a soldier in combat, The Guardian said.

Gentle, who had served with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, died in June when a bomb exploded in Basra, the southern Iraqi city under British control.

Gentle's mother has already had an acrimonious meeting at Downing Street to protest the war and walked out of it accusing Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott of 'talking rubbish'. 

She argues that her son's death could have been avoided had his patrol unit been equipped with signal-jamming equipment, which would have blocked the detonation of the bomb, the newspaper reported.

Her lawyer John Cooper, who had defended the families of four soldiers who died from bullet wounds under unclear circumstances, said he was "optimistic" about the case.

"There seems to be a culture within the MoD (defence ministry) of insensitivity when it comes to dealing with the families of deceased servicemen and women," he said.