Yeah he was my English teacher at Moorside Comprehensive, one of the better teachers, would always have abit craic on with him about how the lads were doing before he moved school's. I was in a bad state after the news. He also leaves two young daughters behind I think, such a bloody shame.
He was remembered at Mass this morning at my church.
Like many people on here, on one level I felt like I knew him fairly well having had some good craic over the years, with his distinctive font and so on.
And then something like this happens, you see the pictures, the family details, of the person involved. And you realise that you didnt know him at all.
But add in the fact that he was the same age as me (which I like to think is no age at all) and died so close to me on a road outside my village and it is all really shocking. There but for the grace of God and all that.
A really tragic story. Hopefully the fact that he was so well regarded will come to be some form of small consolation in the time ahead.