Family and friends pay final tribute to 'perfect Highland soldier'

Comrades yesterday paid tribute to a soldier killed in Afghanistan as his mother thanked a Scottish regiment for taking her English son to their hearts.

Corporal Michael Pike, 25, was given a funeral with full military honours. Pipers and a 20-strong honour guard from the Royal Regiment of Scotland travelled to the service at All Saints Church in Merton, Devon, near his family home. His widow Ida and their son, Joshua, and daughter, Evelyn, led the mourners.

Cpl Pike was killed as his unit battled insurgents near Lashkar Gar in Helmand province. He has been praised by his commanders as being "the perfect example of a Highland soldier".

He was born near Okehampton, Devon, but moved to Scotland as a child and lived in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. He was based with the 4th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Before the service, his mother, Brenda, said: "He always wanted to join a Scots regiment, having lived at Huntly, and he was proud to be accepted as an Englishman in a Scots regiment."