Tunisia massacre: 'We have been cut in half'

A woman whose son, brother and father were killed by a gunman in a Tunisian hotel has told their inquests how the terror attack "destroyed" her family.

Suzanne Richards said the deaths of Charles Patrick Evans, Adrian Evans, and Joel Richards, had left the remaining members of her tight-knit West Midlands family "broken".

The three men were among 38 people killed by extremist Seifeddine Rezgui, who opened fire at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel on 26 June 2015.

Mrs Richards fought back tears as she told their inquests that the three men were all shot dead within 12 hours of arriving in the Sousse beach resort for a holiday to celebrate her youngest son Owen finishing his GCSEs.

Owen Richards, who was 16 at the time, survived the attack.

Mrs Richards, reading pen portraits of her eldest son, brother and father tothe court said the men had visited the Imperial Marhaba hotel several timesbefore, including when Joel finished his GCSEs and A-Levels.

She described the last text she received from the trio was from her brother,who texted her on the morning of the attack to say they were "relaxing by the pool".

Of her eldest son, she said: "The world has lost a truly shining star."

Mr Richards, who was studying sports science at the University of Worcester, was a "popular" teenager who had become a level four football referee at the age of 18.

Mrs Richards said: "Part of me also died that day when my beautiful child was taken from me so cruelly and so unfairly."

Mrs Richards added: "How can four people go on holiday and only one come back."