Shot teacher 'was devoted'

Enid and Richard Eyeington were killed on Monday

An aid worker shot dead in Somalia put his devotion to teaching above concern for his own safety, according to his brother.

Richard Eyeington, 62, originally from Pelton Fell in County Durham, was shot dead on Monday alongside his wife Enid.

He had been living and teaching in Africa for 40 years and had taken over as headteacher at a school in the Republic of Somaliland in 2002.

His brother, John, said he had been concerned about his brother's safety when he moved to the country.

Foreign hostilities

He told BBC Radio Newcastle: "I talked to him in August 2002 about Somalia and he said it would a bit bleak but all right.

"He said it was a 'good part' of Somalia.

"He didn't raise any concerns about it [hostility towards foreign workers], but he must have realised there could have been some."

Mr Eyeington and his family first moved to Africa in 1962, where he worked as a teacher in Kenya.

They later moved to Swaziland where Mr Eyeington was headmaster of a school attended by the children of former South African president, Nelson Mandela.

Boarding school

The Eyeingtons joined SOS Children's Villages in June 1995, working in Swaziland, before moving to Somaliland in September 2002.

Their mission to the country was to be the couple's last challenge before retirement.

John Eyeington said teaching was in his brother's blood.

He added: "It was mostly children he taught, including a boarding school in Swaziland which was a good school by all accounts.

"He was devoted to it. He just went head down and went in.

"He didn't put too much emphasis on his own safety, or I don't think he would have gone."