Fiancee told of death in cruel hoax.

IN A sickening hoax call, the fiancee of a Hinckley soldier was told the man she was going to marry was dead.

The caller convinced Lance Corporal Ian Walker's fiancee, who did not wish to be named, that he had been killed while serving his country in Iraq.

Immediately she rang his parents, Robert and Joan Walker of Queens Road, Hinck-ley, to break the horrific news and they called the British Army's Family Officer before discovering it was all a cruel lie.

Lance Corporal Walker, who serves with the 4th General Support Regiment, based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has a vital role in the massive rebuilding operation of war-torn Iraq.

The soldier's mother, who works part time at Hinckley's Mount Grace High school, said she did not wish to comment on the situation. "The matter is being dealt with," she said.

Capt Kate Hanlon, who is Lance Corporal Walker's superior officer while based in the Middle East, said the UK family officer was swift to let everybody in the young soldier's immediate family in Hinckley and Burbage know he was alive and well.

She said: "Our family officer confirmed that no-one in that regiment had been killed or injured."