The grieving parents of murdered Gemma Adams have described how their “bright and bubbly” daughter was drawn into a downward spiral of drugs and prostitution.

The grieving parents of murdered Gemma Adams have described how their “bright and bubbly” daughter was drawn into a downward spiral of drugs and prostitution.

Her father said: “She was bright and bubbly and full of fun. That's the only way to describe her. She was good company, bright and intelligent. If you asked her to do anything, she would do it well. We never had any rows with her at home.

“One of her teachers described her as an 'ordinary, intelligent girl from a nice family' and that's exactly what she was.”

During her younger years, she was a Brownie and enjoyed playing the piano and horse riding. But after getting into the wrong crowd as a teenager, Gemma's life changed for the worse, to the point where she began working on the streets - something her family was not aware of until she went missing on November 15.

Mr Adams said: “Once your child is involved with hard drugs, your heart is already broken. I had a strong suspicion all was not well and that her life was degenerating into a fairly chaotic state. But despite numerous attempts to make contact to try to help her resolve her problems, we were unable to.”

He added: “It's just heroin hell and if any parents have got any suspicion their child is taking drugs, I would say tackle it head on and try to get help at the earliest opportunity because I wouldn't want to see anyone else go through what Gemma has been through and what we are going through.”

Mrs Adams said: “She is going to be deeply missed but never forgotten. She will always be in our hearts. We will remember her as she was before and will love her always.”