Mother mourns Cornish 'hero'

Mother mourns Cornish 'hero'

Sergeant Steven Roberts was from the Cornish town of Wadebridge

The mother of Cornishman Steven Roberts has described him as a "hero".

Sergeant Roberts, 33, from Wadebridge, became the first British soldier to die in combat in the Gulf War.

The 2nd Royal Tank Regiment commander - who carried a Cornish flag on his tank - was shot while trying to bring a riot under control at al-Zubayr in southern Iraq.

He was married and had a child from a previous marriage.

His mother, Marion Chapman, said her son would be remembered as a fun-loving, larger-than-life character and as someone who "hopefully did some good for the country".

He would have wanted to be remembered as somebody who did something that was hopefully good for the country

Marion Chapman

British casualties in Iraq

She said: "He always said he would be famous one day, 'I'm gong to be on the front page of the papers' he would say, and he certainly did that.

"I can't believe the number of people who have phoned, have sent cards and flowers everything.

"I never knew he got to so many people."

She said his ashes would be scattered, at his wishes, at Port Quin in north Cornwall, a placed he loved.

She said: "He always wanted to be a soldier.

"He would have wanted to be remembered as somebody who did something that was hopefully good for the country.

"I just loved him so much, I don't know what we are going to do without him."

At the time of his death, Sergeant Roberts was living in Shipley, West Yorkshire.