Devastated family pay tribute to motorcyclist, 24, who died in crash

Daniel Hornsby, 24, was killed after his motorcycle was involved in a collision on the A19 near Chapel Haddlesey on December 9.

Today the family of Mr Hornsby, from Whitley, Google, said they are devastated in a statement.

The crash happened at around 6.20pm and involved a grey Citroen C1 car, a grey Ford Ranger pick-up truck, a grey VW Jetta car, and the victim's blue Honda motorcycle.

In a statement, Mr Hornsby's family said: "As you can imagine, his life being so needlessly and tragically taken away that evening on his normal commute home from work, has left his family absolutely devastated, and at this time of year when we should be celebrating his 25th birthday and the festive season, it is extremely difficult to see anyway forward from this dark place that we now find our self in."

"Dan had a loving happy childhood alongside his slightly older brother, and in his early years they were so close they were often mistaken as twins.

"Coming from a long family line of craftsmen, he had such natural ability and talent that he would have been able to turn his hand to any trade he decided to follow.

"He was a high achiever at school which carried on through College, and eventually on to two university degrees. One in 2013, a BSc in environmental geography with first class honours. And one in 2014, a MSc in Volcanology and Geological Hazards with Merit.

"Amongst his many talents he was an accomplished, self-taught guitar player and excelled in Art, Information technology, Photography and Film Making.

"In 2015, he spent six months traveling around New Zealand to further his passion on Volcanology by visiting the volcanic and earthquake affected islands, and at the same time recreating some of the scenes from the Lord of the Rings trilogy which were filmed on location there.

"Once he arrived back home the relief was palpable, and he soon settled back into work at home as well as gainful employment to help with his finances and self-esteem."