1. Tributes have flooded in for a former Maidstone schoolboy who was tragically killed in a car crash - just three months before he was due to get married.

Andrew Thornewell, who attended the town’s Oakwood Park and Invicta grammar schools, was involved in a collision with two other cars and a lorry on the A10 in Cambridgeshire last Wednesday.

The 28-year-old, formerly of Teapot Lane, Aylesford, was travelling in an Austin Mini with his friend and colleague Tim Wildbore, 24, when the accident happened. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Thornewell’s family – father Paul, mother Linda and older sister Sarah – have this week paid tribute to a talented and motivated man.

Paul said: “He was a huge part of our family and he really will be missed. We are appreciating now more than ever how much he touched so many people.

"He only had to come into contact with someone for a short while to leave his mark. That’s what we are finding so humbling.

"I am truly devastated by everything that has happened... Life is so cruel..." - Emma Shackleton

“Andrew knew where he was going in life. There are so many people who will not benefit from meeting and working with him.

"We feel so sad for his fiancée, with whom he had been arranging their wedding since November 2013.”

Mr Thornewell's fiancée, Emma Shackleton, said: "I am truly devastated by everything that has happened. We were due to get married at the end of May. Life is so cruel."

School friends of the award-winning engineer paid tribute to a ‘cheeky chappy with a heart of gold’.

Si Gardner said: “Andrew represented the best of all of us, he was always properly happy and had a brilliant future ahead of him with Emma.”

James Pascoe added: “There was never a dull moment with Andy. He was a true friend and a real talent and has been lost far too early.”

Mr Thornewell's cousin Mark said: "I feel like I have lost a little brother. Our family is so close and never imagined such a tragedy could happen to us.

He added: "Life was so good to him in the last few months. He had a new house, new job, beautiful fiancée and wonderful wedding to look forward to. Life just is not fair. I can't and don't think I ever will get my head around this."

Mr Thornewell, a keen Gillingham FC supporter, lived in Ely with Miss Shackleton and worked at RJ Herbert Engineering Ltd.

A spokesman for Invicta Grammar School, where Mr Thornewell completed his A Levels, said: “Andrew was a lovely student who settled in well to the sixth form and was very popular. As a school we were very sad to hear the news and our thoughts are with his friends and family.”

An inquest into Andrew’s death opened and adjourned yesterday in Cambridgeshire.

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