A soldier from Charing died from head injuries when his Land Rover was blown up by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

A colleague of Sgt David Wilkinson wept as he recalled leaving the 33-year-old behind when he got life-saving treatment for another wounded soldier, L Sgt Carl Shadrake.

WO Simon Edgell told an inquest: “I carried out a quick visible check of the area but could not see Sgt Wilkinson.

“The soldiers who had been in his vehicle were not in a fit state to say what might have happened. They were all in shock.

“I made the decision to get Sgt Shadrake medical treatment without delay, otherwise I thought he might die.”

WO Edgell, of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, told the hearing in Wiltshire that he was unable to radio a contact report because he had to maintain pressure on Sgt Shadrake’s throat wound.

He opted instead to alert colleagues about 10 minutes’ drive from Gereshk, Helmand Province, where the incident happened last summer.

WO Edgell, who was in a vehicle that had been in front of Sgt Wilkinson’s, broke down as he recalled telling a colleague: “I can’t find Dave.”

Sgt Wilkinson’s body was later found in a drainage ditch.

Cause of death was confirmed as penetrating head injuries caused by projectiles. Medics said the injuries were not survivable.

Sgt Wilkinson’s widow, Rachel, also burst into tears as she heard surviving soldiers’ accounts.

Sgt Wilkinson, of 19 Regiment Royal Artillery, had been driving a weapon-mounted Land Rover when a device containing ball bearings was detonated.

The blast, on July 1, last year, injured four other soldiers, one seriously.

Sgt Wilkinson, based at Larkhill in Wiltshire, had been part of a Grenadier Guards team tasked with training the Afghan National Army.

Sgt Shadrake, who gave evidence at the inquest, spent several months in hospital and undergoing rehabilitation.

Maj Martin David said the Afghan authorities had “specific intelligence” about the threat of a suicide attack in Gereshk on that day but they only mentioned it to British forces afterwards.

Sgt Wilkinson’s body was badly burned by the blast, which hit the driver’s side of his vehicle when he was at the wheel.

Wiltshire coroner David Masters recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.

On WO Edgell’s decision to leave Sgt Wilkinson behind, he said: “In the agony of that moment he has to make a decision.

“He knows that he has one serviceman very seriously injured. He knows he must get to the medical centre as quickly as possible, and that he did – understandably, in my opinion.”