“He had the biggest heart” - tributes to A47 crash victim as inquest opens into deaths

Emergency services at the scene on the A47 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, where two men have died after a van and coach collided. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday January 17, 2018. See PA story POLICE Crash. Photo credit should read: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Rachel Rostron, 35, said her brother Riki Boughen was a much-loved son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and grandson.

'Every room he walked into he lit up,' she said. 'He'd always make a joke out of everybody, he was a typical joker really.

'He enjoyed life and lived it exactly as he wanted to. He would give anyone anything he had to give. He had the biggest heart.'

'He was a qualified electrician, although he decided he loved his job as a digger driver much more and did that for many years. He just liked to be outside working.'

The tributes were paid to Mr Boughen on the same day the inquest opened into his death along with colleague James Cox.

Norfolk Coroner's Court heard ground worker Mr Cox, 46, had been driving plant driver Mr Boughen in a Ford Transit van when it collided with a coach.

Both men lived at Prince Street in Wisbech.

Mr Boughen, the passenger in the van, died at the scene from a severe head injury, the court heard. Mr Cox sustained multiple injuries and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, where he later died.

The accident happened on an unlit single-carriageway stretch of the road at Constitution Hill, around a mile east of the Hardwick Roundabout around 5.20pm on Wednesday, January 17.

The driver of the coach and a number of passengers on board were taken to hospital to be treated for bruises.

A full inquest into the deaths will be heard at King's Lynn Magistrates Court on June 22, 2018.