SIDMOUTH branch of the Royal British Legion will be represented today at the repatriation of Corporal Stephen Curley, 26, who was killed in the Sangin area of Afghanistan last Wednesday.

SIDMOUTH branch of the Royal British Legion will be represented today at the repatriation of Corporal Stephen Curley, 26, who was killed in the Sangin area of Afghanistan last Wednesday.

Dave O'Connor will carry the RBL standard at Wootton Bassett this afternoon, accompanied by Legion member Don Richards.

Corporal Curley's widow, Kirianne, was a former Sidmouth College student and her parents live in the town.

Mr O'Connor described his death as "a futile waste of a good young life, especially when it strikes home like this for one of our girls in the valley. It is so sad."

Kirianne paid tribute to her husband, saying: "It is impossible for me to express what my husband meant to me; daddy to our 18-week-old son William, and my partner in crime, Stevie was my purpose, what makes me tick."

She said he was a quietly proud man, who stood by his convictions and fought for what he thought was right.