A FORMER Weymouth College student who was killed fighting in Afghanistan has been repatriated to the UK.

Lance Corporal Jonathan James McKinlay of 1 Rifles was repatriated through Carterton in Oxfordshire yesterday.

The 33-year-old, whose family live in Dorset, was killed by small arms fire in while on patrol near Checkpoint Chaabak in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province last Wednesday.

He was flown into RAF Brize Norton, the new base for repatriations, and then taken past waiting family and friends at a new memorial garden.

L/Corp McKinlay joined the Army in 1996 and qualified as a mortar fire controller.

He was sent to Afghanistan in June as a casualty replacement.

He leaves wife Lisa, three children Megan, Ollie and Piper, his mother Valerie who lives near Blandford, and sister Rebecca who lives in Weymouth.

1 Rifles, based at Beachley Barracks near Chepstow, was formed from the Devon and Dorsets and one other regiment in 2007.

Royal Marine David Fairbrother, 24, from Blackburn, was also repatriated at the same time.