New bride widowed by Taliban bomber
A former British soldier killed in a suicide bomb attack while working as a bodyguard in Afghanistan had married just three months earlier.
Ronnie Jessiman, who had served with 5 Scots, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, had settled in Canterbury with partner Natalie and the couple wed in August.
Natalie, a hairdresser at Toni and Guy in the city centre, had regularly updated her Facebook account since the big day with pictures of their nuptials at a sun-kissed Mexican resort.
But just 10 days after the last picture was posted, Mr Jessiman died when a Taliban bomber slammed a car, laden with explosives, into his vehicle.
The 33-year-old, who was working for private security firm G4S, was in a convoy between Jalalabad and Kabul when it was ambushed by the bomber last Thursday.
The bomber’s Toyota Corolla car exploded, blowing Mr Jessiman’s British embassy vehicle across the road and ripping off its roof.
Canterbury MP Julian Brazier, a former reservist, said: “Ronnie Jessiman served his country with the Argylls and made his home in Kent.
“It’s very sad that he’s now been killed as a civilian bodyguard.
“Each time I’ve been to troublespots I’ve noticed that these people have done a really outstanding job.
“They’re always ex-Army and they’re an important part of the diplomatic effort.”
Foreign secretary Phillip Hammond confirmed that two British embassy workers died in the convoy attack on Friday morning.
An Afghan national working at the embassy was also killed in the blast.