UPDATE: The anguished mother of a soldier from Brighton, who was killed in a blast in Afghanistan, has applauded the bravery of his comrades who tried to save his life.

Jacqui Janes said colleagues of her son, Guardsman Jamie Janes, did "everything humanly possible" after he was terribly wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED).

He was part of a 10-strong team on foot patrol when the device was detonated and followed up by an insurgent ambush, injuring three other British troops near Nad e-Ali district centre in Helmand on October 5 last year.

Guardsman Janes, 20, of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was airlifted to a hospital at Camp Bastion but died from horrific injuries, the inquest at Brighton County Court heard.

Addressing section commander Arron Harris at the end of his evidence, Mrs Janes paid tribute to him and his colleagues for their efforts.

She said: "I know that you did everything humanly possible for Jamie and I know that none of you are to blame in any way, shape or form and I'm so grateful for all you did for Jamie that day."

Guardsman Janes, from Portslade, had been helping to lift another soldier out of ditch water when the explosion happened at around 8am.

They were patrolling in perilous terrain towards a village which had been virtually deserted by local Afghans and had been heavily covered with IEDs. The British soldiers set off from their base at about 5.30am and were aiming to make the area safe to enable friendly local villagers to return to stop it becoming an insurgent-occupied territory.

The inquest heard that he and his colleagues were wearing body armour, including helmets, and Guardsman Janes was equipped with a rifle and a pistol. He had been deployed to Afghanistan in mid-September last year before undergoing eight days of acclimatisation while in Afghanistan.

Following the death, Prime Minister Gordon Brown provoked the anger of Guardsman Janes' family after his hand-written message of condolence to them began "Dear Mrs James" and appeared to contain other spelling errors.