The British soldier killed this week during an assault upon a Taliban position in southern Afghanistan has been named as Lance Corporal Stephen Kingscott.

The 22-year-old, from Devon, Plymouth, died from enemy gunfire in Nawa, south of Lashkar Gah in Helmand, province in what the Ministry of Defence termed a "deliberate operation".

An MoD statement said L Cpl Kingscott, from the First Battalion the Rifles, was an "intelligent, competent, friendly and popular" soldier.

The Devon-born rifleman had completed an intensive ten-week Dari language course in Afghanistan and acted as a liaison between the Afghan national army and British troops.

In an example of L Cpl's larger than life personality the MoD said: "Once, out patrolling in the Green Zone, his balance failed him whilst tiptoeing over a precarious log bridge, tumbling into one of the many irrigation ditches.

"Right behind him, his company commander, Major Andy Watkins, asked after his wellbeing. As a team-mate gave him a helping hand out of the water, his reply was simply 'I wanted to try out my backstroke, it's getting a little rusty'."

The rifleman's parents Wendy and Michael, sister Laura and fiancée Gemma said: "Stephen is our loving son, brother, grandson and fiancée, who died for his country. He will always be our hero and always in our thoughts."

Lieutenant Colonel Joe Cavanagh, commanding officer, said: "Lance Corporal Steve Kingscott died from wounds sustained in combat, despite the very best efforts of his fellow riflemen on the spot - who had to fight to extract him - and the outstanding attempts to save his life by medical staff all the way back from battlefield to [the field hospital].

"The depth of Steve's previous experience and the speed with which he picked up new skills made him a model rifleman, no more so than on operations; that he was also a battalion first XI footballer and cricketer gives some idea of the breadth of his talent.

"We are so sorry for Steve's parents and family, his beloved girlfriend, and his friends; they will miss him terribly, as we will. He was a splendid representative of the Battalion and the Rifles. We are all very proud to have served alongside him."

L Cpl Kingscott is the 145th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion of 2001.


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