Shane Tunney family: 'We just want it all to be over'

Shane was a loving son, partner, brother, uncle, cousin, nephew and dear friend. He had an admirable love for life that was filled with passion, ambition and drive to make something of himself. He was never afraid to say no to anything new, and that’s something we all loved about him.

He would always strive for perfection. He knew what he wanted from life and he would do what he could to get the most out of it. He had more of a life in his 24 years than many will within a lifetime.

He was one of the most kind-hearted, selfless people you could ever meet, he was a blessing within our lives and to anyone that knew him and he will never be replaced.

Shane was so much more to us than words can even describe, however, he is now always going to be associated with this vicious attack. This is how people will remember him, he will become a statistic, and yet he was so much more than that to so many people.

This is one of the things that breaks our hearts because we want him to be remembered for all the right reasons. His family, friends, myself and all the witnesses involved will be haunted by this for the rest of our lives.

We have lived with months of helplessness, as well as a wide range of emotions. It has been a rollercoaster and we just want it all to be over. Shane has suffered enough and so have we.

We are grateful for everything that the police have done for us in terms of this investigation. They were constantly keeping us informed of progress and making sure that we were supported.

We don’t mind that it has taken this long because we want to make sure everything is done properly to get justice for Shane. Of course we want those responsible for Shane’s death to get the punishment that they deserve, however, regardless of that, it will never come close to what we have lost.

Now that those responsible have been found guilty, it will provide some comfort in knowing that the streets of Norton are a better place and people within the community can feel a little safer.

This torment has been overtaking our lives for nearly a year now. I hope now we can do our best to put this cruel event behind us and try and rebuild our shattered lives because we know that’s what Shane would have wanted for us.

We all know that there will be a hole in our lives where Shane should be, and we know he will never be forgotten as he was too special to us all. We feel blessed for the time that we had with him but deep down we will always know that we should have had so much more.

We would like to thank everyone that has been involved with Shane since 27th June, the hospital staff from North Tees and James Cook hospitals who tried to do everything they could to save his life, the police and legal team for trying to get justice for Shane, the friends of Shane for coming to the funeral, leaving flowers and giving kind words and support. Lastly the community of Norton for also giving their kind words and supporting us in any way they could through this difficult time.