Gordon Brown calls up dead soldier's mother to apologise after misspelling condolence letter

Gordon Brown has telephoned the mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan to apologise for a letter of condolence he sent her which was littered with errors.

The prime minister addressed the mother of 20 year-old Jamie Janes as "Mrs James" and left some words half-finished in his apparent haste. He misspelled the name Jamie, and rather than start the letter again, wrote over it.

BRAVE: Jamie Janes (20) was killed in Afghanistan on October 5

She reacted with fury, accusing Brown of disrespecting the memory of her son.

Brown moved to limit the damage by telephoning Janes to assure her he meant no offence.

A Downing Street spokesman said the PM spends "a great deal of time" writing personal condolence letters and would never knowingly misspell a name.

Brown also came under fire this weekend for failing to bow his head as he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance on Sunday.

Mother fumes

Jacqui Janes said Brown's letter is clear evidence of his attitude towards them.

"If he cares that little I don't know why he bothered to write at all," she said.

Jamie joined the Army shortly after his 16th birthday and was on his second tour of Afghanistan when he was killed by a Taliban bomb on October 5.

He was the fifth generation of his family to join the infantry and, according to his mother, was proud to be serving his country and making life better for the people of Afghanistan.

It is standard for Prime Ministers to write to the families of the fallen, and Janes received Brown's letter after others from the Royal family, the Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth and Jamie's regiment.