Weeton soldier died in '˜accidental shooting'

Heartfelt messages continue to pour in for young dad Scott Hetherington, who died in Iraq while serving with the 2nd Battalion the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment on Monday.

By The Newsroom

Published 5th Jan 2017, 12:30 BST

Updated 9th Jan 2017, 12:40 BST

Lance Corporal Scott Hetherington died in Iraq

The 22-year-old Lance Corporal, who had been in the Middle East since last month to help train Iraqi and Kurdish security forces battling ISIS, is reported to have been killed in an ‘accidental shooting’.

The Ministry of Defence said the soldier’s death was ‘not the result of enemy activity’ and said an investigation is underway, though the circumstances surrounding his death have not been confirmed.

Writing on Facebook, L/Cpl Hetherington’s aunt Nicola Hetherington said her family is ‘heartbroken’, and said they were still waiting for answers from military top brass.

Friends of L/Cpl Hetherington, who was based at Weeton but from the Middleton area of Manchester, also paid emotional tributes on social media sites, while £4,000 had been raised in his memory at the time of going to print.