Former Unst pupil killed in Afghanistan

THE COMMUNITY of Unst have expressed their shock at the death of a former pupil while on active service in Afghanistan last week.

Lance corporal Liam Tasker shot dead by a sniper while on patrol in Helmand province. His body was being flown to RAF Lyneham, in Wiltshire, on Thursday, along with the ashes of his sniffer dog Theo.

The 26 year old was a pupil in S1 and S2 of Baltasound Junior High School between 1996 and 1998 when his family was stationed at RAF Saxa Vord. He most recently lived in Kirkcaldy, in Fife.

On Thursday his former register teacher and now head teacher at Baltasound, Anne O’Neill, said: “The school and the whole community are shocked and saddened to hear about Liams’s death. Liam was a bright and cheerful lad and got on very well with his classmates, and the family is well remembered in the community.

“The school as well as the community has sent cards to his family in Kirkcaldy expressing our condolences.”

L/Cpl Tasker was the 358th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001.