Tommy Hunter death: 'Someone has taken my son's daddy away'

The partner of a young father who died in a suspected hit-and-run as he returned home from a night out has said she does not know how those responsible can sleep at night.

Tommy Hunter, 27, was found at the side of Burton Road in Leicestershire on the morning of 11 December.

His partner Chloe Mefford paid tribute to him and described him as a "loveable nuisance" and an "amazing dad".

She told the BBC she was "heartbroken... and angry".

The father of one was reported missing after leaving a nightclub in Ashby-de-la-Zouch in the early hours of 10 December.

His body was found in hedges the next morning.

Leicestershire Police has arrested a 26-year-old man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. He has since been released under investigation.

Officers believe Mr Hunter had been walking to his home in Newhall, Derbyshire, when he was hit by a car.

Ms Mefford, 25, had been in a relationship with Mr Hunter for five years and the pair had a four-year-old son together.

Speaking about what Mr Hunter was like, she said their son was his world.

"He was a loveable nuisance, he was determined and he never seemed unhappy," she said.

"He was an amazing dad, he would do anything for our golden boy, as he would call him. He had so many plans he wanted to do with him but that's been taken away now."

Mr Hunter, a former kickboxer and Derby County fan, played Sunday League football for Springfield Sports Bar in Swadlincote. The team paid tribute to him on social media after his death.

Ms Mefford spoke fondly of a trip they took to Thailand last year, and the couple were planning to go back this April.

"We went there as a family, he always said that was his most favourite holiday," she said.

Ms Mefford added they were planning to take their son to Lapland this December.

Describing the events before Mr Hunter's death, Ms Mefford said her partner had been working away in Manchester before returning home.

She said his plan, on 9 December, was to go on a night out in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

Ms Mefford said she dropped him off at a friend's house, and he later contacted her, asking her to pick him up and then drop him off at another pub.

She said that was the last time she saw him alive.

"It wasn't odd that he wasn't home when I went to work at seven that morning. I just thought he'd gone to his dad's, as he sometimes would," she said.

"But it was about 3pm that afternoon that I started getting worried - I knew he would be in touch maybe to ask for a lift home but he didn't."

Ms Mefford said she rang the police after she became concerned. This was after she made two trips to Ashby-de-la-Zouch to look for him.

With no sign of Mr Hunter on 11 December, Ms Mefford was on her way to pick his work phone up as a way to track his personal phone.

She said she then received a call from one of his friends to get to the nearby Taphouse pub.

"I was at the car park waiting and I couldn't see anything so I pulled out, drove up the road and I could see everyone crowded around," she said.

It was there that Ms Mefford discovered her partner had died.

"I was heartbroken... and angry," she added.

The impact on Ms Mefford and the wider family has been enormous, she said.

She also had the heartbreaking task of telling her son his dad had died.

"I can't even explain or describe what the impact has been like," she said. "I'm going through the worst thing anyone could possibly go through in their life.

"It's being made harder having a four-year-old. I've told him daddy has gone to heaven in the stars but I don't think he fully understands that his daddy is not coming back.

"It breaks my heart even more for him but whoever it is out there, someone has taken his daddy away.

"I don't know how they can sleep at night knowing what they've done by breaking a family."

A fundraiser for their son has surpassed £25,000.

"[The community support] has been amazing but no amount of money can buy Tommy back," she said. "I don't think he realised how loved he actually was and how much he meant to people."

Speaking about his funeral, which will take place on Wednesday, Ms Mefford said more than 200 people were expected with bagpipes, doves and a coffin with Derby County colours.

"I just hope that I've done him proud," she added.

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