THE family of a teenage soldier killed in Iraq will mark the first anniversary of his death by taking part in one of his favourite pastimes.

Rifleman Aaron Lincoln, 18, from the Sherburn Road Estate, in Durham City, loved singing along to backing tracks of his favourite songs, and his family will hold a karaoke night in his honour.

On his last visit home, only days before his death in a gun battle in Basra, he had spent his time at events at local pubs and clubs.

On Wednesday, April 2, the first anniversary of the day he died, his parents, Peter and Karen, will hold the karaoke and buffet at The Last Orders pub, in the Gilesgate area of Durham, between 4pm and 10pm.

Mr and Mrs Lincoln hope some of their son's comrades from the 2nd Battalion The Rifles will join his family and friends, including Aaron's brother and sisters, Craig, Donna and Christina, to mark the anniversary.

Mrs Lincoln, 43, who wears her son's dog tags, said: "We are holding this to celebrate his life. Aaron was a happy-golucky lad and he would enjoy me doing something like this for him. He loved being on the karaoke. I think there will be a good turnout for him.

"We are having the karaoke from 4pm because that is the time when I got the knock at the door to tell me he had been killed."

Mrs Lincoln said she and her husband were still trying to come to terms with their loss and visited Aaron's grave every day.

She said the family were hoping the headstone for their son's grave would be completed in the next week or so.

Mrs Lincoln said she disagreed with the war in Iraq, and said: "They should not be over there, none of them. It isn't a war - for oil and money."

The family hope to learn more about their son's death when an inquest is held in the near future. Mrs Lincoln said: "It might be painful, but I need to know for my own peace of mind."

Hundreds of people attended Aaron's funeral, and a training room in the Pelaw View community centre, on the Sherburn Road Estate, has been named after him.

His friends also staged a musical in his memory and produced a CD, with all proceeds going to the Help the Heroes Fund for wounded soldiers.