Grieving relatives have spoken of their agony after the man who brutally murdered a young father from Stevenage was jailed.

Thomas Ward, whose murderer John “Boy” Ward of Clarkson Court, Hatfield, was jailed for at least 32 years at St Albans Crown Court today, leaves his parents, two brothers, three sisters, a young wife and a baby daughter.

Recalling their last embrace, his mother said: “To me he had become a real man when his daughter was born and I didn’t want to mother him too much.

“If only I had known what was going to happen, I would have held him in my arms for longer.”

In a statement released by police, the other bereaved relatives said: “Thomas truly was amazing and we all love him so much.

“We miss him and his beautiful big smile every minute of every day.

“Thomas was good looking, he was flawless and people were very envious of him.

“He was cheeky but so wonderful too and genuinely cared for everyone. No-one had a bad word to say about him. He was also extremely generous and spent his first ever wages on a present for his mum.

“All of our lives were ruined the night he was so brutally taken from us and things will never be the same again.

“What happened to him has destroyed us all and left a massive hole in our hearts which can never be filled. The man behind this set out to hurt us in the most awful way and he has succeeded.

“Not only that, but having to sit through the trial has been even more difficult because it is like we have lost him all over again. We now pray for peace.”

Thomas, who grew up mainly in Germany, spoke Spanish and German, and was a born again Christian.

He travelled widely, and kept very fit, enjoying football and boxing.