Concert will honour fallen Halesowen Royal Marine

A tribute concert in honour of drummer and Black Country Royal Marine Jonathan Crookes will be held in the spring.

Marine Crookes, aged 26, of Halesowen, was killed in an explosion in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in July.

The 26-year-old was a drummer in rock group Distant Signal and his bandmates are planning a fundraising show in aid of Help for Heroes.

The band originally planned to do a charity concert when Marine Crookes returned from Afghanistan. The soldier, a reservist in 40 Commando Royal Marines, was killed while on foot patrol on July 16.

The ban are now planning to hold a concert in his honour, with all proceeds going to the charity.

The group has enlisted one of his friends, Pete Martin, to fill in on drums and will soon be heading into the studio to record some tracks.

Guitarist Mark Cooper, aged 29, said: "We'll be going into the studio first to record some songs and then doing the gig sometime in the spring."

The band includes Adam Poole, 26, and Paul Baker, 28, and all were friends from Earls High School in Halesowen.

Mr Cooper, a publishing editor formerly of Waxland Road, Halesowen, and now living in Basingstoke, said the band had packed out venues in the past.

Marine Crookes, who also studied at King Edward VI College in Stourbridge, joined the Royal Marines Reserve in 2005 and was awarded the Commando Dagger for the best all-round recruit during training.

A part-time international relations student at Aston University in Birmingham, he also worked as a tree surgeon and labourer. Marine Crookes's funeral was held in August, and hundreds of mourners lined the streets of Halesowen to pay their respects.

Among those saying their last goodbyes at St John the Baptist Church in High Street were his mother Susan, who was joined by his brother Robert, sister Jane and fiancee Danni Davis.