A DISTRAUGHT mother last night demanded a public inquiry into her soldier son's death after claims he was raped by a senior Army officer before he died.

Fusilier Mark Murray, 18, was based at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, Europe's biggest army base, when he was found dead from a gunshot wound in 1996.

His mother Janette was initially told that he had died in a training accident.

But she subsequently discovered he had committed suicide - although to this day she still has doubts about this version of events.

Janette, who lives in the north of England, decided to come forward to tell her story for the first time after The Northern Echo exclusively revealed that a seventh young soldier had been found hanged at Catterick

It comes amid growing concern about a possible climate of bullying at the base in the last decade, and her story will add to the pressure for an inquiry into all non-combatant deaths at UK Army bases, including Catterick and Deepcut in Surrey.

Last night, she said she wanted justice for her son. The Army said that her allegations would be investigated.

Fusilier Murray, who was assigned to the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was found dead on June 25, 1996, while on a training exercise at Warcop range in Cumbria.

Janette was informed of the death of her oldest son by a padre. "He said there had been a terrible accident - he had been injured up on the firing range," she said. "I replied 'Oh My God, how badly hurt is he?' He just said, 'Oh I'm sorry did I say that, I meant he is dead'."

It was at Mark's funeral that the family began to suspect that there may have been more to his death then they had been told.

Janette said: "At the do afterwards, when some of the young squaddies had had a few drinks, they said he had been raped by an officer who had turned up unexpectedly on the firing range that day.

"He had gone up and said something to Mark.

"Mark then asked his friend to look after his kit, walked up into the toilet block.

"I then had a corporal come and tell me that he was the guy that had found him.

"He had been in the toilets at the time, he had given Mark a light, he then gave me a graphic description of the mess all over the floor when he opened the toilet door."

Six months later at Fus Murray's inquest the family was told a different story and the coroner recorded that he had committed suicide.

Two military police officers said they had been stood 500 yards away, heard a shot and discovered the body.

A suicide note was shown to the family that read: "Tell my mother that I love her and I have to do this."

Janette said: "There was hard pressure on the paper. I think somebody had made him write it."

Fusilier Murray was due to have finished his final training at Catterick's Infantry Training Centre three days later before being posted to Germany.

"We used to live in Germany and he could not wait to go back. He was thinking about the future," she said.

"He loved the Army and that was all he had wanted to do.

"He went to Catterick at the end of March. He changed. He was very unhappy.

"The last weekend that he came home he would not look anyone in the face.

"He should have returned to Catterick but spent a night at a friend's. He did not want to go back."

Fusilier Murray did return to Catterick where he was punished for going AWOL but seemed in good spirits when he last spoke to his mother.

"He seemed fine, he was buoyant," she said.

She said she had been so distraught by what had happened to her son that she had a nervous breakdown and the stress had destroyed her family.

It is only now that she feels strong enough to challenge the official version of events and report the rape allegations to the army.

"I just want to get justice for Mark," she said.

A spokesman for Catterick Garrison said last night that if she reported her concerns to the Army they would be investigated.

He said: "Obviously, it will be looked into. The Army takes all such complaints seriously."

The allegations come days after The Northern Echo revealed that Derek McGregor, 21, of the 3rd Close Support Medical Regiment, had been found hanging in his barracks.

He was the seventh Catterick soldier to have been found hanged since 1995, and another seven soldiers - including Fusilier Murray - have died from gunshot wounds in the past eight years