Mother pays tribute to hero soldier

The mother of a soldier awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his valour in Afghanistan has paid tribute to his bravery, saying she will miss his smile.

L/Cpl James Ashworth, 23, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, who was serving with 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was killed during a mission to disrupt insurgent activity in the Nahr-e-Saraj district in June 2012.

His mother Kerry, said that, although the award had made her "ecstatically happy", the announcement had also brought back the pain of his death.