MURDER victim David Hunter has been buried with his son, whose grave he went to visit every day.
Matthew Hunter died at the age of 19 when he was hit by a car as he walked home along the A52.
His broken-hearted bus-driver father David made a pilgrimage to Matthew's grave in Ockbrook and Borrowash Cemetery each day.
Tragically, David was to die six years later when he was attacked and beaten with a crowbar by love rival Heteny Tarsoly.
Yesterday, after seeing Tarsoly jailed for life, with an order he serve at least 23 years, David's distraught family paid tribute to him.
They said that despite the fact he still mourned for his son, in the days before his death he had never been happier, and planned to marry his partner, Timea Tarsoly, Heteny Tarsoly's estranged wife, whom he had been seeing for two years.
The 54-year-old's family said it was the loving father's wish to be buried with his son.
David's sister, Leonie Hunter, said: "He was a devoted family man. He was absolutely ripped apart by his son's death and used to go to the grave on his push bike every day. He kept it immaculate and would make sure there were always flowers there."
A week-long trial at Derby Crown Court heard how Tarsoly had waited outside Mr Hunter's Breadsall Hilltop home for his victim to return from a late shift and then struck him at least 10 times with a crowbar. Eight days earlier Tarsoly, of Park Hill Drive, Derby, had discovered his wife and David were having an affair.
The court had been told Tarsoly and his wife's marriage had broken down, she wanted a divorce and they were sleeping in separate beds.
Prosecutor John Lloyd-Jones QC told the court yesterday: "The loss of David must be seen in the context of another tragedy that befell the family years ago when one of his sons was killed in a road traffic accident. Just as they were coming to terms with his death, David was brutally murdered outside his house."
He said Mr Hunter's family, which included a sister, two brothers, two sons, a daughter and a granddaughter, had been devastated by his death.
"His daughter, Rosie, feels her daughter has been robbed of a doting grandfather," said Mr Lloyd-Jones. "His sister, Leonie, talks about a good man for whom family was very important. He was a kind, helpful and hard-working man."
She also said her brother was "public spirited". Mr Lloyd-Jones told the court how one day while driving his bus, Mr Hunter had seen an old woman being mugged on the street.
"He stopped the bus, gave chase, apprehended the robber and then waited for the police," said Mr Lloyd-Jones.
Sentencing Tarsoly, Judge John Burgess said: "The prosecution say this was a planned and premeditated murder committed because you wanted to take your revenge.
"You said in the course of your trial you were provoked by something he said and lost your self control. The jury have rejected your account. The reason you wanted revenge was that a week earlier you discovered that your wife was having an affair with this man and that this was the true reason for her wanting a divorce."
Judge Burgess said he accepted Tarsoly felt "betrayed", not only by his wife but by his "friend David Hunter". He added: "I accept that you are devoted to your children and had great worries about losing them. (But) this was no justification for what you did."
Shaun Smith QC, in mitigation, said Tarsoly was "truly sorry" for what happened. He said Tarsoly had no previous convictions and had been "a good man".
"He was a hard-working man, a true family man and it was the circumstances, not the man that has led to this," said Mr Smith.
"He will never see his children again – that's the reality of this case. The one thing that has led him to all of this is the one thing he will be deprived of for the rest of his life."
Following the hearing, Leonie, 54, said: "We have seen justice but both families have been absolutely destroyed by what he did."
She said that one of the ironies behind this was David had said he would encourage the Tarsoly children to be with their father as much as possible. She said: "Because of our own upbringing – coming from a broken family – and his own divorce, David realised how important it was for children to have contact with both parents and wouldn't have deprived anybody of a father."
