‘Thom wanted to make a difference’

Beckie Willmott, Thom’s best friend, had met with him just the day before he was found and said the pair had been planning their travels for the year ahead.

The two would spend most days together and had the closest friendship possible and she described how losing her best friend had left a huge hole in her life.

Beckie said: “Thom was my everything. He will never quite understand the sheer ripping hole he has left in my life.

“When I’m making dinner, walking the dogs or watching a film I keep thinking about him.

“He was always with me and now I can hardly sit in my room anymore.

“Thom was that one person you always looked for in a crowded room and now he has gone. What do you do when that person is gone?

“If I met him out with friends and others were engaged in conversation then he would be rush to me to get me a chair.

“I hope Thom looks down now and knows how much he was adored.

“I was with him the day before he died and we were planning our travels. We had so much we were going to do.”

Thom had helped out at the homeless shelter at weekends and volunteered at the Hazlitt Theatre and Beckie said he would help whoever he could whenever he could.

She said: “He used to share petitions to get people to sign them. He wanted to make such a difference. “He was wise beyond his years. “If I was upset or down I would text him to say ‘Thom I don’t feel good’ and he would come back with a paragraph about how amazing I am.

“We loved each other so much.”