THE awful events of the massacre at a beach resort in Tunisia were brought home this week when it was revealed that a Tadley man was among the dead.

David Thompson, 80, was one of many who died at the hands of Seifeddine Rezgui, a Tunisian terrorist who hid a machine gun behind a beach umbrella.

While the number of British dead had not been confirmed by the time The Gazette went to press, it is thought to number 30, making it the most deadly terrorist attack involving British people since the bombings in London in 2005.

What could possess someone to inflict so much misery upon so many people? No cause, religious or otherwise, can justify such an act.

It must have been terrifying for those people who had gone to Tunisia for a holiday to find themselves the target of a man who seemed to have had little value for human life.

As we report today, his actions have left a family in despair and the community in Tadley in shock.

Mr Thompson has been described as “wonderful” and a “very active person” and the town will come together to remember him at a church service tomorrow.

As Tadley Town Council chairman Councillor David Leeks said, “it is a very sad loss for the community.

“You don’t expect something like this to happen so close to home.

“It is very, very sad.”

The Gazette would like to express its sympathy to Mr Thompson’s family and hope that the community in Tadley can provide them some comfort in their time of need.