THE family of a military police officer murdered in Iraq have paid tribute to him on the first anniversary of his death.

Warrant Officer Colin Wall, of Middleton One Row, near Darlington, was killed on August 23, last year, after the 4x4 vehicle he was travelling in was ambushed by loyalists in Basra.

WO Wall died alongside Major Matthew Titchener, 32, both of the 150 Provost Company, attached to the 19 Mechanised Brigade, based at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

Corporal Dewi Pritchard, 35, a Territorial Army soldier from South Wales, was also killed in the attack.

Last night, Mr Wall's mother, Joan, said the family had spent the anniversary of his death together at the home she shares with his father, Barry, in Crook, County Durham.

She said: "We spent the day with my daughter-in-law, Trish, and the grandchildren. It was a day for the family.

"The day before, we went to the church in Stanhope and laid flowers at the cross."

About 250 mourners, including members of the Royal Military Police, attended the 34-year-old's funeral at St Thomas's Church, Stanhope, last September.

He was laid to rest with full military honours.

Mrs Wall said the family had erected a memorial seat in the hills above the small village of Crawleyside, where WO Wall had grown up and where he enjoyed spending his time walking.

His children, Lauren, 13, and Robert, 11, from his first marriage to Isabella, and son Alex, two, from his marriage to Trish, made an emotional visit there last week.

Mrs Wall said: "It was the last place Colin walked before he went to Iraq. He loved walking around there."

Friends from Crawleyside have also erected a seat in WO Wall's memory in the village.