10/05/2007

Groom pays tribute to M25 crash victims

The groom whose friends were killed in a motorway crash returning home from his stag weekend has paid tribute to his friends.

James Forrer paid tribute to his "five beautiful friends" and said: "Everyone who knew them has been inconsolable. I'm so grateful that we were all able to share a terrific weekend's celebration that was filled with laughter.

"Coming to terms with a loss of such magnitude will require much time and energy and the warmth and love of all of the families involved. We would like to ask the media for the space and privacy that is needed for this to occur."

Mr Forrer said that he and his fiancée had not yet decided whether or not to postpone their wedding.

Mr Forrer's stag party comprised of 13 men, all from Brighton. Their minibus broke down as they returned from Leicestershire in the early hours of Monday morning and they contacted the AA. Seven men, including the groom, were driven back to Brighton, while the remaining six men travelled back in a recovery vehicle, which carried the minibus.

The recovery vehicle was then involved in a collision with a lorry. Five of the men from the stag party were killed, along with the recovery truck driver. They have been named as Andrew Graney, 29, Jonathan Chandler, 26, Matthew O'Donnell, 30, Christopher Janaway, 28, Rohan Chadwick, 27, all from Brighton. The driver of the recovery vehicle has still to be formerly identified.

A sixth member of the stag party, Benjamin Pert, is still in hospital, suffering from a broken leg and facial injuries. He underwent surgery for facial injuries at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead in west Sussex on Monday.

Crash investigators are hoping that Mr Pert will be able to offer some information on what happened in the moments leading up to the collision.

He has already been questioned briefly by police, but will be interviewed in more detail once he has recovered.

The lorry driver was uninjured.

Surrey Police said that the collision was one of the worst crashes they had dealt with on the M25.

They said that a number of witnesses had already come forward, but urged more people to come forward as well.

(KMcA/SP)

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