THE final moments of Royal Marine James Wright’s life were revealed at an inquest into his death.

The inquest heard that Weymouth man James Robert Wright was killed by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

His comrades fought to save him but Marine Wright suffered a serious head injury and died on August 5, the Dorchester inquest heard.

The 22-year-old from Chalbury Lodge, Preston, was struck by a fragment from a grenade that was thrown at his camp.

Marine Ryan Ralphs gave evidence on his comrade’s last moments. He said former Wey Valley schoolboy Marine Wright and himself were among 10 men who went out on patrol on the morning of August 5.

The men ‘made contact’ with insurgents and later returned to Camp Kamiabi in the Nad-E Ali district of the Helmand province to rest, the inquest heard.

Marine Ralphs told how a grenade exploded through the roof of a tent that Marine Wright was in.

He said: “I started talking to James about what we needed to do and then the UGL (Underslung Grenade Laun-cher) hit us.

“I remember hearing the explosion. I was face down.

“James was on the floor. He had an obvious wound and there was blood coming from the back of his head.”

Marine Ralphs said emergency treatment was administered to Marine Wright.

“We had been doing CPR work on James for quite a while. Through the work we carried out we managed to find a radial pulse.”

Marine Wright was then carried by stretcher to a helicopter and was airlifted to the field hospital at Camp Bastion, where he died. The cause of death was blast generated fragment wounds to the head.

Camp Kamiabi had been attacked eight or nine times before, Marine Ralphs said.

West Dorset Coroner Michael Johnston said he wished to acknowledge the sacrifice servicemen like Marine Wright make serving their country.

Recording a narrative verdict, he said: “James Robert Wright died under enemy fire while serving his country in Afghanistan.

“I feel that gives, in a small way, an acknowledgement of the sacrifice James made and the stress that these young men and women are undertaking every day of their working lives.

“I would like to acknowledge that in a very small way.”

James’s parents Sallie and David Wright, his sister Katie and his partner Shelley Robertson and her parents Geoff and Bev attended the inquest.

With the family was James’s baby daughter Lily, who was born four months after he died.

Speaking after the inquest, Sallie Wright said: “We think the verdict reflected how we feel.

“What the coroner said was for all those who are injured or killed when fighting for their country. I think the coroner was genuinely moved.

“Nothing anyone will say will bring James back.

“There are no lessons to be learned. Apart from ‘do not go to Afghanistan’ there’s not really anything that could have been done differently.”