Hollioake's family 'devastated' by tragedy

Ben Hollioake's father John has today spoken of the devastation of losing his son in a horrific road accident. He described how his daughter Eboni watched in horror as her brother's car left the road near Perth and crashed into a pylon.

Ben, 24, died at the scene. His girlfriend Janaya Scholten, 22, was seriously injured.

"It is just devastating, especially for Eboni, who saw her brother crash and could do nothing about it, said Ben's father John, 56. "She is absolutely devastated, as we all are. We cannot quite understand why it had to happen to such a wonderful lad."

"We had been out for a meal because Ben and Adam were returning to England. It is something we do every year and it had been a lovely evening. We were all in convoy but then Adam turned off to go to his house and Ben turned off for his road, followed by Eboni, while we carried on.

"It was horrific for Eboni to see it happen and she then phoned us all and we went to the scene. The sight was awful. Ben's career was just taking off again and to lose him now is devastating."

Hollioake's agent, David Ligertwood, issued a statement on behalf of Ben's brother and Surrey colleague Adam.

"The family is totally devastated at our tragic loss, and we would ask that members of the media respect our desire to mourn our loss in private," the statement said.

Adam Hollioake later said the family now need time to mourn the death.

"I have never been in this position before and I just want to deal with it and grieve for Ben," he said.

"I will be staying in Australia with the family for a while now as we mourn. We also ask to be left to do that."