The family of the Nottingham University student Barnaby Webber have described their “complete devastation” at the “senseless murder of our son”, who was killed in a series of attacks in the city.
His parents, David and Emma Webber, along with his younger brother, Charlie, said Webber was a “beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to”.
The family, from Taunton, Somerset, issued a statement to the PA Media news agency after their son’s death in an incident in Nottingham in the early hours of Tuesday.
They said: “Complete devastation is not enough to describe our pain and loss at the senseless murder of our son.
“A talented and passionate cricketer, who was over the moon to have made selection to his university cricket team. At 19 he was just at the start of his journey into adulthood and was developing into a wonderful young man.”
They added that his brother was “bereft beyond belief, and at this time we ask for privacy as a family to be allowed time to process and grieve”.
Webber and fellow student Grace Kumar, a talented hockey player, were stabbed to death in Ilkeston Road, near to their student halls, by an attacker who also killed a man in his 50s in Magdala Road before stealing his van and driving at pedestrians in the city centre.
On Wednesday morning, England Hockey issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened” by Kumar’s death.
“Grace was a popular member of the England U16 and U18 squads and our thoughts are with Grace’s family, friends, team-mates and the whole hockey community at this time,” it said.
Webber’s family also released a set of photographs, showing the student with his parents and younger brother.
The Taunton-based Bishops Hull Cricket Club paid tribute on Tuesday to Webber, whom they nicknamed “Webbs”, saying he had “been a key part of our club and made such an impact in such a short space of time” after he joined in 2021.
“Playing more than 30 games for the club, scoring 622 runs, and taking 29 wickets, his memory will live on,” the club’s statement read.
The former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan also paid tribute, saying Webber was a “young cricketer gone far too soon”.
A vigil is planned at the University of Nottingham at 4pm on Wednesday for students to come together, while the leader of the city council, David Mellen, said a further event was being planned in the city square on Thursday.
Nottinghamshire police are continuing to question a 31-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of murder.
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