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Shoreham plane crash: Dudley couple pay tribute to chauffeur victim who made wedding day 'extra special'

Natalie Bowyer's wedding was the happiest day of her life – made 'extra special by a special man' in a gleaming car.

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But as the newly-named Mrs Baker and her husband Stan started their new life as man and wife in Dudley two months on, they watched in horror and disbelief as the wreckage of that same pristine Daimler was amongst the debris of the Shoreham air disaster.

Mrs Baker, aged 21,felt her heart drop as she feared the worst for her charming driver Maurice Abrahams.

Natalie Baker and Maurice Abrahams with the Daimler car

"We first saw a picture of the car on Facebook and immediately recognised it," she said.

A few hours later, he was confirmed among the 11 suspected dead.

"We are both totally shocked. It is so terrible.

"It hits you that this was my home town and I grew up just half hour away."

Mrs Baker, married Stan, 57, just two months ago in West Sussex on June 27 – just a few miles when the ill-fated jet crashed on Saturday.

"He made our special day even more special for being there and for telling me my husband is a lucky guy and that I was a gorgeous young lady," said Mrs Baker.

"He told me in the car 'let me give you some advice, live life to the full, don't ever let anything stop you, you have your whole life who seems like they deserve all the happiness in the world'. That I will never forget.

"He will be terribly missed."

The newly-weds now live in The Parade, Dudley and have been glued to the news as the tributes to Mr Abrahams poured in.

Newly-weds Natalie, aged 21, and Stan Baker, aged 57

The father of two, 76, from Brighton, was driving his beloved Daimler to pick up bride-to-be Rebecca Sheen to drive her to her wedding in Findon when the vintage Hawker Hunter jet crashed.

Mrs Baker, who is originally from Sompting in West Sussex, said: "He was a local guy and very well known.

"I lived in West Sussex all my life and only just moved to Dudley.

The moment of impact was caught on this Twitter picture
Emergency services at the scene after the tragedy

"Everyone knew him by the wedding car, proms and special occasions.

"He was just amazing. It was my first wedding and I was a nervous wreck.

"He made me laugh and made sure everyone else was ok and had a great time. He was a top bloke, a true gentleman. There are not many of his kind around and it is hard to put into words.

"I don't think I have ever watched the news so much in my life.

"Our thoughts go out to his family and everyone else who knows him. God knows what the it must be like for them.

"He was a true family man."

Natalie Baker and the Daimler wedding car driven by tragic Maurice Abrahams

Mr Abrahams was an ex-paratrooper, Grenadier Guard and a former Hampshire policeman as well as a pillar of the community acting as chauffeur to scores of brides over 20 years.

The removal of the 1950s fighter jet from the site where it crashed amid a fireball uncovered no further evidence of victims.

Four men have been named as among those killed, and two more have been identified as missing, following Saturday afternoon's disaster at the Shoreham Airshow.

West Sussex coroner Penny Schofield has warned that identifying the victims will be a 'slow and painstaking operation'.

Natalie and Stan Baker

As well as Mr Abrahams, Worthing United footballers and best friends Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, both 23, were killed.

Personal trainer Matt Jones, 24, has also been named as a victim.

Motorcyclist Mark Trussler and Daniele Polito, a father from Worthing, are both missing and are feared to have been killed in the tragedy.

Pilot Andy Hill is in a critical condition in hospital.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch could publish the first information from its examination of the scene of the crash in the next few days.

Further huge sections of the stricken Hawker Hunter were removed from the site beside the A27 yesterday as part of the painstaking, slow process of piecing together what happened.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport, which runs the AAIB, said: "The AAIB will be producing a preliminary report but we cannot say exactly when that will be."

The report is likely to include findings from the scene as well as whether any cockpit voice recordings that were made between the pilot and air traffic control.

Stan and Natalie Baker with the Daimler wedding car driven by Maurice Abrahams

Leslie Hatcher, 71, a former RAF instructor who also flew Hawker Hunters, condemned Mr Hill as a 'complete lunatic'.

He said: "That guy came in at about 100ft (30metres), much lower than the 500ft (150metres) minimum height allowed. He pulled up and he was going too slowly.

"The guy must have been a complete lunatic to come in at 100ft and think he could pull out of it (the loo) safely."

However, he has previously been described as an 'extremely experienced' pilot.

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