Jonathan and Emma Gray, both 25, died when they quad bike they were given a lift home on from a party crashed into a tree.
A five-month-old boy was left orphaned after his parents couple were killed on honeymoon in the Maldives in a quad bike crash, an inquest heard.
Jonathan and Emma Gray, both 25, were at a private party on the Kuredu Island Resort when at the end of the night the party host, Filip Petre, offered to drive them and two other couples back to their villas on a quad bike.
The other couples declined but Mr and Mrs Gray, both of Halifax, West Yorkshire, accepted.
The couple were sitting on the back of Petre's bike when it crashed into a tree as the driver tried to negotiate a bend.
Petre escaped with minor injuries but Mr and Mrs Gray both died instantaneously.
Petre was charged with 'disobedience to order'- which carried the death penalty as its maximum sentence - in 2012 but was acquitted of all charges in 2013.
At an inquest at Halifax Coroners Court today after the 2011 tragedy, the coroner heard how the couple met as children but lost touch before bumping into one another in 2005.
In a statement provided by Mrs Oldfield at the time of the accident read out in court, Emma was described as a loving wife and mother to her five-month-old son, Jake.
She said: "Emma and Jonathan were so happily in love. Emma was so proud of Jay, and he was so proud of her job as a primary school teacher.
"Jay booked a surprise trip to New York and he proposed in a horse drawn carriage in Central Park on New Year's Eve.
"When Emma found out she was pregnant, she asked me whether she should still go on her honeymoon. I told her she should, and baby Jake arrived in 2011.
"She was a really good mum, she took to motherhood like a duck to water.
"The wedding was fantastic and Emma looked beautiful. We really miss Emma and Jay and I have no idea what I will do without Emma."
Mr Gray's mother Catherine Davis described how Jonathan, a keen artist, had made her so proud in his job as a kitchen designer.
She said: "He worked hard and played hard and became a lovely young man.
"He fell in love with Emma, and was accepted into her family.
"Jay was a fantastic dad to Jake. He just loved being a dad and a husband."
Recording a verdict of death by road traffic collision, coroner Oliver Longstaff said: "These circumstances can only be described as a tragedy.
"Their family and friends have been left hanging for many, many years for a conclusion to this tragedy.
"Can I say to you all how very, very sorry I am that you have had to wait for this hearing?"
"The verdict of road traffic collision hardly gives justice to the huge hole left in the lives they left behind.
"The love that they had for each other and their son is evident from family statements.
"I am sure that both families have the welfare of Jake at the centre of their thoughts.
"I hope that as the years roll by and as Jake grows up, they will be comforted by thoughts of their lives and not dwell on their tragic deaths."
Speaking after the verdict, Mrs Gray's father Rodney Oldfield said: "The past few years have been completely heartbreaking for our families and we are still struggling to come to terms with losing Emma.
"She was really looking forward to her honeymoon in the Maldives to celebrate the start of her married life and her life was so cruelly cut short because of what happened.
"We are focusing all our care and attention on Jake and giving him everything he needs."
Emma's parents, Rodney and Susan Oldfield, instructed specialist international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the circumstances of Emma's death.
Although no admission was made by any party pursued, the law firm was able to secure an undisclosed settlement from Kuredu Holdings PVT Limited, the owner of the resort where the incident occurred, which will provide for son Jake as he grows up.
Cheryl Palmer-Hughes, a specialist international personal injury lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, representing Emma's family, said: "Emma's family has been through an unimaginable ordeal losing their loved one so suddenly and in such tragic circumstances.
"This was a horrific incident which took the lives of a young couple who were celebrating the happiest time in their lives on their honeymoon."
Source: The Mirror
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