Tributes paid to Ripon soldier killed in Afghanistan

Sapper Richard Reginald Walker was killed in Afghanistan on January 7th Credit: MoD

The Ministry of Defence has named the soldier killed in Afghanistan as Sapper Richard Reginald Walker from 28 Engineer Regiment.

The 23-year-old, from Wearside, was shot in an apparent 'insider attack' by a member of the Afghan National Army (ANA) at Patrol Base Hazrat in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand Province on Monday January 7th.

He was working on a construction task with other military engineers from his Troop, as part of the preparations to hand the camp over to Afghan security forces, when the Afghan soldier turned his weapon on soldiers at the base.

Sapper Walker was a former Washington School pupil. An avid football fan, he represented his Regiment at football and spent endless hours in the gym.

Above all he was a devoted father and would talk for hours on end about his love for his daughter Lilly-Faith, who sadly he only knew for 18 months before his deployment to Afghanistan.