A SOLDIER from the region who drove over an improvised explosive device (IED) in Afghanistan is thought to have died painlessly, an inquest heard.

Daryn Roy was on patrol driving a Panther armoured vehicle in the Nad-e-Ali area of Helmand province, on May 3, last year, when he hit the device.

The sapper, from Dipton, County Durham, who served with Ripon-based 21 Engineer Regiment, was evacuated to Camp Bastion by helicopter where he was pronounced dead.

The news shocked the community in Dipton where residents pinned an England flag outside the former Red Lion pub bearing the message RIP Daryn – Dipton Hero.

Yesterday’s inquest heard how the 28-year-old was travelling to meet civilian vehicles carrying engineering supplies needed for a task at Patrol Base Nahidullah.

He was driving the second vehicle in a four-vehicle patrol when he hit the IED planted at the edge of a built-up area half-way along the route.

Corporal Jim Grundy, who was in the passenger seat, said he only became aware of the blast when the dust settled and he saw Sapper Roy hanging out of the vehicle.

He said: “When we got the Valon out (to detect for secondary IEDs) there were shards of metal everywhere and the things were going mental, so we just got down there and started treating Daz.”

Aaron Walsh, a medic who has since left the Army, said he detected a pulse and did everything he could for his friend of two years before the helicopter arrived. Captain Fran Bullock, who was in the rear vehicle, said the locals had been going about their business and there was nothing to suggest there was an IED in the area.

Major John Lackem said Sapper Roy should have been driving a larger Husky vehicle that day but it was broken down.

Ian Elgy, from the MoD defence science and technology lab, said it was a particularly powerful explosion and it was impossible to say if a Husky would have saved Sapper Roy’s life. A pathologist said Sapper Roy most likely immediately lost consciousness, never regained it and was unlikely to have felt any pain.

County Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle said that Sapper Roy had been horrendously unlucky and that there was little else he could suggest for an explanation.

Mr Tweddle recorded a verdict that the soldier died as a result of injuries that he sustained while on active service while in Afghanistan.

After the inquest at The Work Place, Newton Aycliffe, Sapper Roy’s family released a statement thanking the Army for its support. It read: “Daryn will never be forgotten by any of his friends and family because of his unique personality. He was and always will be Dipton’s hero.”