‘David is missed beyond words’

David Foulkes

AN Austerlands man, who died in the July 7 London bombings, is “missed beyond words by all who knew him”.

David Foulkes (22) was killed instantly when suicide bomber Mohammed Sidique Khan — thought to be the ringleader of the devastating 2005 terrorist attacks — detonated his explosives close to Edgeware Road station.

Speaking at the inquests into the deaths of all 52 victims, David’s father, Graham, struggled to contain his emotion as he described his son, a former Hulme Grammar School pupil.

He said: “David enjoyed his life. He was a very energetic and enthusiastic man about all the things he did.

“Just a few weeks before July 7, he had started a new job. His career was now on track.

“He was in a settled relationship with a lovely girl who we think the world of. She made David happy and that made us happy for him.

“I couldn’t say what the future would have been for David. Who could? But I do know that he would have made us proud and happy parents.

“David is missed beyond words by all who knew him.”

Mr Foulkes also spoke of his son’s fascination with cars, telling the inquest how he had learned to drive as a 17–year–old.

He added: “About this time, David found girls, or I should say, they found him. David was six foot, very handsome and had a car.”

The newspaper sales manager, who also studied at Oldham Sixth Form College, was one of six people killed when Khan (30) unleashed devastation on a westbound Circle Line train on the morning of July 7.

Survivor Daniel Biddle (31), who lost both legs, his left eye, his spleen and 87 pints of blood, told the inquest that he still has a 20p piece lodged in his thigh bone. Other shrapnel, including his door keys, were removed by surgeons.

Speaking at the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Biddle said he was stood next to Khan as he detonated his bomb by pulling on a white cord that was attached to his backpack.

The former construction manager said that a series of fateful incidents led up to him being on that train.

He was running late for work after waking with a migraine and let the first train to arrive at Liverpool Street Station pass as it was too crowded.

He then missed his stop at Baker Street because he got distracted sending a text message.

Mr Biddle said he saw Khan get on the train at King’s Cross but didn’t pay much attention to him.

One survivor of the Edgware Road blast compared the scene to the remains of an "exploded firework".

Bill Mann said the carriage of the train was left mangled and blackened.

In a statement read at the inquest today, he said it was like "being inside an exploded firework", adding: "You have bits of it blown out and just black and soot."