Drink spiral after soldier death

Mr Evans began drinking again after his son's death

A grieving father started to drink again after his son became the first Welsh soldier to be killed in the Iraq war, an inquest has heard.

Gordon Evans' resolve to stop drinking was shattered by having to hold two funerals for his 24-year-old son, after more of his body parts were found.

His son, Lance Bombardier Llywelyn Evans, known to his friends as Welly, was killed in a helicopter crash.

A verdict of abuse of alcohol was recorded on Mr Evans, 47, of Llandudno.

Coroner John Hughes was told that Mr Evans, who was a fierce critic of the war in Iraq, died from liver failure.

Mr Hughes said he had been told about the possibility of a liver transplant but then his whole world had "disintegrated" when he lost his son.

Mr Evans, who has four sons, had formerly served in the Merchant Navy and as a fireman.

Lance Bombardier Llywelyn 'Welly' Evans was killed in an air crash

He had made no secret of the heart break he said he suffered as a result of his son's death. He said the worst times of the year for him were Christmas and New Year

In March 2004 he said: "My feelings haven't gone away. My heart is broken. I feel part of my body has gone away and I'm just trying to live with it.

"Llywelyn was the life and soul of the party and he could make anybody laugh - and that's gone which hurts."

Lance Bombardier Evans was one of 12 servicemen killed when an American Sea Knight helicopter crashed in the Kuwaiti desert on the first day of the conflict.

Laid wreath

He was a lance bombardier in 29 Commando Royal Artillery, attached to 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, and was one of six young men, including his younger brother Lee, from the same street in Llandudno, serving in the conflict.

At the November remembrance commemorations last year, Mr Evans led his family in laying a wreath at the service in Llandudno.

After the inquest hearing on Friday, Mr Evans' 19-year-old son, Jamie, described his father as a good man and a good father who had been really close to his sons.

Llywelyn Evans was a popular member of Llandudno Rugby Club First XV and one of six young men from the town's Conway Road who went out to serve in the Gulf.

On Remembrance Sunday last November some 2,000 people gathered at the seafront cenotaph to pay tribute to him where a plaque bearing his name was added to the war memorial. A community centre in the town has also been named in his memory.