The fiancee and mother of a sub-postmaster shot dead in an armed robbery on a village post office and stores today read moving statements to a court.
Speaking after three men were convicted of 29-year-old Craig Hodson-Walker's murder, his fiancee Lisa Bundy and mother Judy described the effect his death on January 9 had on their lives.
Dressed in black, Miss Bundy said: "The weekend of January 3 and 4 was as always a special time. Craig and I cherished every weekend we spent together as due to financial constraints and work commitments we did not yet live together.
"Over this final weekend we had together our future was the hot topic. We enjoyed talking about life together and it made us excited and warm and happy inside."
Miss Bundy said they even talked about a potential name for a daughter, as Lana.
"Our future together seemed extremely bright," she said. "Little was I to know this was going to be the last time I would see or touch him or talk to him in person."
She said they were excited about the upcoming wedding of her brother, and she had been trying to encourage Craig to coordinate his outfit with hers.
Miss Bundy said the Thursday before her fiance's death, it was an exciting time as usual. She said: "Thursday was always a good and exciting day as we knew we would see each other the next day.
"We finished the conversation by expressing our love for each other.
"I met Craig 10 years ago when I was 16 years old, we worked at the same restaurant together and as the cliche goes it was love at first sight.
"It was as if we had known each other for years. We were very comfortable in each other's company.
"Over the 10 years Craig became my best friend, my partner and my soulmate. Our love for each other was beyond words.
"I was in the middle of doing a maths lesson when I was called to the office. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the news that I was about to receive."
She said the news was an "emotional bombshell".
"It was as if my whole world had collapsed and strangely enough in hindsight it has. It's funny how you go through life, sad things happen and you get upset, but it's not until something as tragic as this happens that you finally realise what really being upset is."
She said when she went to her bedroom after hearing the news, she saw a picture of Mr Hodson-Walker and "cried like I have never cried before".
"Life has changed dramatically and will never be the same again," she said. She told the court she had "existed rather than lived" since the death of her fiance.
"Every day I feel lonely, I have now lost the one person I felt closest to and the one person I need to hold my hand and tell me everything will be ok."
She said instead of choosing an outfit for her brother's wedding, she had to choose one for Craig's funeral, and instead of choosing Christmas presents with him, she had shopped alone during his killers' murder trial.
"It's one thing to have a member of your family die through natural circumstances but to have lost someone you love so much to such a callous act is indescribable.
"It's left a huge gaping hole in my life. One day I had my whole life mapped out in front of me and the next day my life with Craig was instantly erased."
>More: Three men guilty of murdering Worcestershire sub-postmaster Craig Hodson-Walker
>More: Fairfield murderer had previous conviction for robbery
