Family's tears as soldier's body comes home

THE family of a Scottish soldier killed in Afghanistan broke down in tears as his body was brought back to the UK.

Highlander Scott McLaren's relatives comforted each other as the 20-year-old's coffin was driven through Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire yesterday.

His parents James and Ann, sister Kirsty and brothers James and Ross joined other relatives in the town to pay tribute.

As has become tradition, local people and Royal British Legion members joined his family and friends to line the high street.

After Highlander McLaren's body had been flown to RAF Lyneham, a private service was held at the base's chapel.

The soldier, of the 4th Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland, was found dead with gunshot wounds after vanishing from a Nato checkpoint in central Helmand province on 4 July.

Highlander McLaren's disappearance sparked a 17-hour search and it is understood the military believes he was killed by enemy forces.

The circumstances of his death remain unclear, though the Taleban claimed it had captured him during a firefight with foreign troops in the Babaji district of Helmand and that he died in crossfire shortly afterwards.

This version of events could not be corroborated, and Nato said there were no reports of a battle in the area.

At the beginning of the week, however, it was reported that military investigators are to look into whether or not the soldier had been under orders to retrieve a pair of missing night-vision goggles left at an Afghan National Army base at the time of his death, or had been acting alone.

Army CCTV captured Highlander McLaren, who was from the Sighthill area of Edinburgh, as he left around 2am wearing full-body armour and helmet and carrying his assault rifle.

It was around 4am that an emergency "Man Away" report was sent to his unit's headquarters - triggering a full-scale alert. The soldier was found later in an irrigation ditch.

The two-hour time gap is at the centre of the inquiry, and investigators will examine whether anyone on the base acted wrongly by not raising the alarm.

Comrades of the soldier, who deployed to Afghanistan as a Rifleman in April, described him as a man of "true grit" with a "heart of gold".

At the time of his death, his family said: "We are deeply saddened by the news that our dear son Scott was killed in Afghanistan. We were extremely proud of Scott. He loved the army and, despite his short time in 4 Scots, had made many friends."Temporarily attached to 1st Battalion The Rifles Battlegroup, he was deployed to Checkpoint Salaang to help secure a "vital" bridge in the northern area of Nahr-e Saraj.

His death brings to 375 the total number of UK military personnel who have died since operations in Afghanistan began in 2001.