Medal for Iraq hero has spelling mistake

A grieving mother was shocked to find a posthumous medal for her soldier son had a spelling mistake.

Lieutenant Richard Shearer, 26, died in Iraq in July 2005 when a roadside bomb exploded. When she received his Elizabeth Cross last week she was shocked to find the inscription read "2LT R A Shearer, Staffords". Her son had no middle name.

The error comes less than a week after Gordon Brown was criticised for spelling mistakes in a hand-written letter to Jacqui Janes, whose son Jamie Janes died in Afghanistan.

Today Lt Shearer's mother Maureen, 60, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, said: "The silly thing was that they got his name right in some cases, but on the actual items — the medal and the scroll — they had an A in it." She said it brought back memories of her son's coffin being flown back with the wrong date of birth on its plaque.

Today the Ministry of Defence apologised. It will send a new medal.