Family, friends and colleagues will gather in Newton Aycliffe today for a memorial service to soldier and undercover journalist Steve Ibinson. Chris Fay charts the life and work of the man they called the “warrior reporter”.

HE was known to his colleagues as Undercover Steve or simply Ibbo.

Some called him the “warrior reporter”.

In a life cut short by a heart attack at only 33, former elite forces soldier and undercover reporter Stephen Paul Ibinson achieved much and left a lasting legacy through his commitment to animal welfare.

“He always set himself goals and he always managed to achieve them,” says his mother, Sandra, 63, a former Great Aycliffe town councillor, in County Durham.

Speaking to her the night before he died, he told her he was tiring of overseas work and wanted to be closer to his family. One of four siblings, he was married with three children.

He never got home to achieve that wish. His flight back to Belfast was delayed. He collapsed and died in Kabul in Afghanistan, where he was trying to infiltrate an opium ring.

His funeral was held in Belfast where he began the work that earned him a reputation as one of the UK’s top investigative reporters, although the undercover nature of much of his work meant his achievements went unrecorded and unheralded until now.

This afternoon, his grieving, but proud parents will join family, friends and colleagues at a memorial service in his home town at St Clare’s Church.

“We were always very proud of everything he did,” says his mother. “Right from when he was in the cadets, when he became the youngest-ever sergeant major, and through all his other achievements, he has always set himself goals and always managed to achieve them.”

The former Woodham Comprehensive pupil wanted to join the Parachute Regiment as a boy and passed out from Catterick Garrison in 1993. He served with 2 Para in Northern Ireland and eventually settled in Belfast, leaving the Paras at 27 to set up a private investigation firm.

Initially, the firm specialised in divorce and fraud cases, but his reputation soon grew and he caught the attention of broadcasters and publishers.

Martin Breen, executive editor of the Belfast Telegraph, worked with Ibbo in confronting terrorists as well as exposing rapists and killers. It was dangerous work. He says Ibbo received death threats from loyalists, republicans and gangsters from as far as Russia and Finland during his undercover work.

Paying tribute to him in the Telegraph, Mr Breen wrote: “As soon as I heard the words ‘alright pal’ on the other end of the phone I knew it was him. At one time or another he always seemed to be working undercover on a major story for a newspaper or for the BBC’s Spotlight or Panorama team.

“Outside of work we spent many evenings chatting about his fascinating life which included not only investigative journalism, but private security work in war zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan and some African countries.

“Without going into too much detail, it’s fair to say he had more than his share of lucky escapes and brushes with death over the years.”

ALTHOUGH Ibbo’s work took him across the world, he maintained strong links with his home town and held meetings with producers in the region.

It was one such meeting that saw the keen animal rights activist combine his passion with his profession to smash a dog-fighting ring.

The Bafta-winning BBC documentary that followed, Farmers’ Boys, saw him infiltrate the inner circle of the dog-fighting network in County Armagh, Ireland.

His work earned him the admiration of colleagues in TV. Panorama producer Andy Bell says he was absolutely stunned at the calibre of Ibbo’s work and that he had never worked with anyone like him.

Ibbo made his views on animal welfare clear when he spoke out in 2007. “The thought of people fighting dogs makes me sick to the stomach.

I wanted to expose these people,” he said.

His work on the film led to several criminal charges across the UK, and helped forge a relationship with the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA). Chief executive Stephen Philpott says Ibbo was set to become a key member of his special investigations team. “His commitment to animal welfare placed him in hazardous situations on many occasions,” says Mr Philpott.

“Being the man he was, Ibbo never once allowed personal safety concerns to jeopardise an operation. An investigation into the secretive world of dog fighting dealt a massive blow to those involved in this barbarity. His work with the USPCA had positive repercussions for animal welfare across Europe.

“Steve was looking forward to joining the USPCA and heading an investigative team at the conclusion of his Afghan contract. He was tragically denied that opportunity.

“It is a lasting tribute that Ibbo’s operations have continued to prevent animal suffering since his death.”

Some close to Ibbo have expressed their sadness and surprise that seemingly natural causes would be the end of a remarkable life.

“We knew what he was doing was dangerous but he never really let on how dangerous it was,” says his father, Steve, 70, a former councillor who served with the Royal Artillery, “When he was in Afghanistan he was investigating farmers who had been paid not to grow opium but continued grow it.”

Mrs Ibinson said: “The lads who were working with him used to say their hearts were beating in their mouths but he was always cool as a cucumber. He was just fearless – he was like a little bulldog himself.”

■ The memorial service takes place at St Clare’s Church, Newton Aycliffe, today at 2pm.