A student who was said to have committed suicide may have been beaten to death.

New evidence will be released tomorrow which shows Jeremiah Duggan, a former pupil at Christ's Hospital, Horsham, was murdered.

The 22-year-old Jewish student had inadvertently become involved in a right-wing political cult and died in Wiesbaden, Germany, in March 2003.

Two new reports from leading forensic pathologists suggest that Mr Duggan, a student at the British Institute in Paris, was murdered with a blunt instrument as he tried desperately to defend himself.

The findings cast grave doubt on the official verdict that Mr Duggan committed suicide by hurling himself in front of cars on a busy dual carriageway.

Erica, his mother, hopes that a verdict of 'unlawful killing' will apply pressure for a fresh police investigation.

Mr Duggan, from Golders Green, north-west London, had become involved with the Wiesbaden followers of Lyndon LaRouche, an American millionaire with anti-Semitic views.

Unaware of the group's leanings, the former Christ's Hospital pupil told followers that he was Jewish.

At 4.20am on March 27, 2003, Duggan rang his mother. In a hushed voice, he said: "Mum, I am in deep trouble".

Asked where he was, Duggan began spelling out Wiesbaden. Before he could reach 'b', the line went dead. Hours later, police investigated reports of a body on the B455 outside Wiesbaden.

The authorities quickly pronounced Duggan's death as a 'clear case' of suicide. The official version states that Duggan 'ran against' a Peugeot and was subsequently run over by a Volkswagen Golf.

But the reports today reveal that forensic specialists found no trace of tyre marks on his body, or anything to suggest that he had been struck by a vehicle. But they did detect classic 'defence wounds' to Duggan's forearms and hands, which usually suggest someone trying to protect himself.

His head injuries are consistent with being beaten and 'exclude any possibility that the injuries to his head occurred because a motor vehicle ran over the body', according to the two studies.

Frances Swain, of lawyers Leigh Day and Co, said: 'It is clear from the new evidence that Jeremiah did not die in a road traffic accident. How he did die has yet to be investigated and a fresh inquest is required to get those proper investigations off the ground. This is strong evidence that again questions what has been told to us. A new inquest is essential."

Both reports are unanimous in rejecting the official account that Mr Duggan was struck by two vehicles on the night he died in March 2003. They also found that he had ingested quantities of blood.

The official account by German authorities, based on police reports, says he was hit by a car travelling at 60mph and died instantly.

However, the fact Mr Duggan survived long enough to swallow large amounts of blood indicates he took a long time to die, which would not be the case after a high-speed collision.

The expert conclusions are the strongest evidence yet that Mr Duggan was killed rather than committed suicide, and support his family's claims that the true circumstances surrounding his death have been covered up.

The findings will be sent this week to the Attorney General as part of a submission of evidence aimed at securing a fresh inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death.

Despite requests by British police, their German counterparts have failed to even reveal records of when they were first alerted that Mr Duggan had been killed in a road traffic accident.