A Dumfries-based Red Cross worker who “shone a light in the darkness” was unlawfully killed in Pakistan, a coroner has said.

Khalil Dale, 60,  was working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) when he was abducted in Quetta in January 2012 by masked men and was found dead on a roadside a few months later.

He had been beheaded. A note next to his body said he was killed because a ransom had not been paid.

Chesterfield coroners’ court heard his kidnappers wanted $30million for his return.

Mr Dale was born in York but lived in Dumfries. He spent 30 years working in countries including Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

An inquest into his death was held at Chesterfield Coroners Court because he is buried in Derbyshire.

Mr Dale, who was originally from York, but lived in Beeswing, Dumfries and Galloway, was posthumously awarded the Florence Nightingale medal, acknowledging his service to others over more than three decades.

The Florence Nightingale medal, named after the pioneer of nursing, is presented every two years and honours "exceptional courage and devotion" to wounded, sick or to disabled people or civilian victims of war or a natural disaster.