Tunisia Inquests: Elaine and Denis Thwaites
The family of a couple killed in the Tunisia massacre told an inquest today their lives have been torn apart by an "evil and twisted" ideology.
Former Birmingham City player Denis Thwaites and his wife Elaine were among 38 people shot dead on the beach in Sousse by extremist Seifeddine Rezgui.
In his later years, he worked at his local hospital - but as a boy, Denis was a keen and talented footballer.
He was even selected to play for England at schoolboy level - scoring a first-minute goal against Scotland at Wembley in front of a crowd of tens of thousands.
He was soon snapped up by Birmingham City in the 60s, playing for more than a decade in the top flight and second division, and winning the admiration of many other professional footballers of the era.
Elaine was born in Kings Heath, growing up to get a job as a hairdresser at a salon in Solihull.
They met after Dennis retired from football, and moved to Blackpool to raise a family.
Their daughter and son-in-law told an inquest today that they'd been proud grandparents, so to speak, of their puppy Bella - and worked hard to pay for the holidays abroad they loved.
It was on one of those holidays, a break in the sun in Sousse with friends, that their lives were cut short.
Speaking at the hearing court today, their son-in-law Danny Clifford read out a tribute on behalf of their daughter Lindsey.
In it, she described her father as 'witty', and said he loved nothing more than winding her mother up with his one-liners.
Of her mother, she called Elaine an "amazing role model".
Danny added that he had looked at the Thwaites as his second parents, adding: “Lindsey, myself and our families’ lives have been torn apart due to an ideology that is both evil and twisted.”
Their deaths were at the hands of gunman Seifeddine Rezgui.
Armed with an AK47 Kalashnikov and grenades, he opened fire on people relaxing on sun loungers on the beach near the Imperial Marhaba Hotel - including Elaine and Denis.
They had been holidaying with a group friends, but on the morning of June 26, 2015, had chosen to sit a few rows back, next to the gangway between the two banks of sunbeds.
Their friends all managed to escape - Elaine and Denis were among the 20 killed on the beach.
Rezgui then headed into the hotel grounds through the gate and did a circuit of the resort.
He killed 10 others in the hotel grounds, and eight more in the hotel itself.
38 victims from around the world - including 30 British tourists, just like Elaine and Denis - whose families are still picking up the pieces.
Video report by Charlotte Cross: