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LORD Justice Sir Mathew Thorpe, of Seend, is mourning the death of his eldest son, Gervase.

Gervase Thorpe, who was 40, died after falling 30 feet from a sea wall in Sicily while he was on holiday with his partner and three children.

Gervase grew up in Seend, near Devizes, and Sir Mathew, an appeal judge, still lives in the village.

The body of Gervase was found by railway staff on a promenade on April 29.

Two days before he had been found drunk in the railway station by police who took him to hospital to sober up.

He and his partner, Alexis and their three children, daughters aged four and one and a boy aged two, were staying with friends in Catania.

Gervase had a criminal record and had a string of convictions for drink driving, theft, criminal damage and possession of cannabis.

Sir Mathew and Lady Lavinia Thorpe, the mother of Gervase, moved to Seend High Street when Gervase was three.

Gervase and his brothers, Alexander, now 38 and a barrister in London, and Marcus, 36, a solicitor in Salisbury, all went to the Mill School in Potterne followed by a prep school in Oxford and then Eton.

Gervase lived in Seend until the age of 20. He then moved to be with his mother in Cornwall when his parents divorced.

Sir Mathew moved to another house in Seend High Street with his second wife Lady Carola Thorpe.

Sir Mathew, 69, said his contact with Gervase in the last ten years had been infrequent.

He said: "When he was growing up in Seend Gervase loved the countryside. He had great gifts with animals, both dogs and horses.

"He has been in endless scrapes. He had a driving record to equal the worst. In the early days, in his twenties, I and his godparents would rally round to try and see the best mitigation was presented. In the end it was an impossible task and he went on reoffending."

Gervase lived with his partner and their children near Totnes in Devon and he dealt in antiques from time to time.

His mother lives in Yelverton in Devon and she said: "I genuinely don't think Gervase committed suicide. He adored his children. He could possibly have had too many drinks but it was an accident.

"I shall miss him enormously, he kept in touch with me twice or three times a day. He was a terribly sweet person, incredibly nice and very popular with his friends. He had problems and he just couldn't cope with life really."

The funeral is to be arranged in Devon.

10:14am Thursday 15th May 2008

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