Gulbuddin, the Afghan policeman who shot dead five British soldiers, caught his victims in a hail of machinegun fire as they were drinking tea.

Abdul Ahad Helmandwal, the head of the council in the Nad-e’Ali district of Helmand province, said Mr Gulbuddin began his rampage at an Afghan police checkpoint where visiting Grenadier Guards and Royal Military Police had taken off their helmets and flak jackets as they drank tea and chatted with their Afghan counterparts.