THE grieving parents of a teenage soldier who was shot dead in mysterious circumstances are a step closer to finding out how he died.

Geoff and Diane Gray, who believe that their son Geoff, 17, was murdered, revealed that police have several new leads following the re-investigation into his death at Deepcut barracks, Surrey.

The couple met senior police officers for a gruelling seven-hour meeting at Surrey police headquarters last week.

The Grays, along with former Northern Ireland spokesman Kevin McNamara, are compiling a dossier of suspicious deaths at Army bases across the country, including Catterick Garrison.

They want a public inquiry into all the deaths, regardless of the results of any police investigations.

Mr Gray said: "No matter what the police throw up, we still need a police inquiry with a wider remit of looking into deaths at other bases.

"They need to look at Catterick. There appears to be some shady stuff that has been going on there."

Officers leading the reinvestigation into Private Gray's death told the parents, formerly of Seaham, County Durham, that there were several new leads but advised them against making any of the details public.

Detectives also warned that publicity over the original police investigation could hamper the new inquiry.

Mr Gray said: "We had a long chat about confidentiality and we were told that the original investigation could hamper this new one. If that happens, there will be hell to pay.

"I can't really say anything about the new leads at the moment.

"We will be having another police update in six weeks and hopefully we can reveal more then if they are any further forward. I am happy with the police investigation so far."

The couple have also demanded that detectives answer a list of 50 unanswered questions over their son's death in June 1995.

They will find out the results of these at a second meeting with police chiefs.

A spokesperson for Surrey Police said it was determined to work closely with the families and to keep them informed with progress.