'We just want our son back'

In a statement released after yesterday's verdict was announced, Paul and Heather Jeffery spoke of the "devastation" felt by the family in the weeks following the accident.

Joseph's 17-year-old sister Holly was not at the inquest in Tewkesbury Magistrates Court.

"The verdict doesn't matter," said Mr Jeffery, comforting Joe's 21-year-old girlfriend Gemma, who was still wearing one of a pair of silver rings she shared with Joseph.

"It's incidental. Joseph's dead, he's not here. What does the verdict matter?

"We just want our son back."

The statement paid tribute to Joseph's skills as a musician and his dedication as a charity worker, raising money for Greenpeace and Water Aid.

He also worked with autistic people in the United States and helped locally with special needs children. But his personality changed in 1997, when his mum was paralysed in a riding accident and he quit university, Mr Jeffery said.

"Joseph was highly intelligent, sensitive, kind, gentle and caring," the statement read.

"He was also compassionate, creative and talented. He was a very deep and complex individual.

"He was very precious to those close to him."

More than 300 mourners packed into the Friends' Meeting House in Worcester, for the 20-year-old's memorial service - billed by his dad as a "public expression of love".

He was buried privately at the Westall Park Woodland Burial Ground in Holberrow Green, near Redditch, a fortnight after his body was found near the tracks at Cheltenham railway station.

"In his 20 years, Joseph touched many people's lives," the statement continued.

"The tragic irony is that Joseph was about to travel to Indonesia and then move to Leeds, with his girlfriend.

"He was doing exceptionally well in a new job and had plans for the future.

"We are a very close and loving family.

"Joseph's death has had such a devastating effect on so many people.

"The world is truly a poorer place without him."