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WEDDING DAY HORROR

Bride and groom and two wedding guests die in head-on crash with lorry on way home from reception

Newlyweds were travelling from Leeds to Scarborough when their Suzuki Ignis was hit head-on by an HGV

A NEWLYWED couple and two of their wedding guests were killed in a horror smash just hours after they tied the knot.

Tragic groom Paul Dockerty, 58, and his bride Susan Gledhill, 57, died alongside Derek Green, 63, and his wife Joy, 60.

 Joy and Derek Green were killed in the head-on crash with a lorry
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Joy and Derek Green were killed in the head-on crash with a lorryCredit: Melanie Green/Facebook

The four were driving along the A64 at Scampston, North Yorks, on Friday when their Suzuki Ignis was hit head-on by an HGV at 3.40pm.

The lorry driver, 26, escaped uninjured.

In a heartbreaking tribute posted online Derek and Joy's devastated daughter, Melaine Ann Green, 37, said her "world has just ended".

She told how they were heading to Scarborough, North Yorks, after the wedding ceremony in Leeds when disaster struck.

Devastated Melanie, from Scarborough, said: "Friday was the worst day of my life. I lost my mother Joy and my father Derek in a traffic accident.

"They were coming back from Leeds from my Uncle Paul's wedding to his partner Sue when their car hit an HGV coming in the opposite direction.

"Sue and Paul were in the back, all four of them died on the scene.

"I know a great many people loved my parents, they were amazing, wonderful, weird people, they opened their hearts to the entire world.

"They were my world. I know a lot of people will want to call and offer help.

"I just ask that for now you respect our grief and our privacy and please be patient with us while we go through this difficult time.

"Thank you to everyone who has reached out to me and my sister Tammy and partner John today and in the days to come.

"In all honesty I feel like the world has just ended."

 Melanie Ann Green thanked people for their messages of support after the crash
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Melanie Ann Green thanked people for their messages of support after the crashCredit: Facebook

Her mum Joy was a well-known artist in Scarborough, where she lived with husband Derek.

Neighbours of Paul and Sue said they saw him and his bride leaving the Leeds flat they shared ahead of the wedding ceremony.

Researcher Julie Davowdski, who lives opposite the couple, said they were all wearing button holes and dressed smartly.

Julie, 30, said: "They all had flowers in their pockets and were with a couple of friends.

"I saw them leaving with their friends just after lunch on Friday. They were picked up by friends.

"They came back on Friday, they were just out for a couple of hours.

“Paul had on a nice shirt and all of them had flowers in their pockets."

 Paul Dockerty was killed just hours after getting married
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Paul Dockerty was killed just hours after getting marriedCredit: SWNS - Leeds

She said cops arrived at the flat at about 3am on Saturday. A plain clothes officer returned and knocked again at about 11am the same day.

Another neighbour, Aran Yazdan, 32, said: "He was in a wheelchair and was cared for by his girlfriend.

"They have lived there for a long time. I'm very sad, you never think something like this is going to happen.

"The police came early Saturday morning and asked me to open the door for them and they came and banged their door, and no answer."

A police spokesman appealed for witnesses and said a second car, a Honda Jazz, sustained damage from the debris from the collision.

He added: "The Suzuki was travelling towards Scarborough and the lorry was travelling in the opposite direction when they collided.

"Sadly the four occupants of the Suzuki, two men aged 58 and 63 and two women aged 57 and 60, died at the scene of the collision.

"Two of the deceased – the 63 year-old man and the 60 year-old woman – were from Scarborough and the other man and woman were from Leeds.

"The driver of the lorry, a 26-year-old man, was uninjured.

"All three emergency services were called to the scene including the fire and rescue service, road ambulance and air ambulance.

"The road was closed in both directions to allow emergency services to deal with the collision and to allow collision investigators to examine the scene.

"It reopened early the next day."

 

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