Drug addict David Hughes was brutally murdered in his squalid Bristol flat for no better reason than his fellow user accusing him of pilfering a pitiful amount of drugs and a burger.

But David Hughes wasn't always a junkie, and he didn't always live in this kind of world with the likes of Nigel Griffin.

For many people who met him in his relatively short life he was a bright, witty, likeable man whom they are glad they knew.

His family find it almost impossible to make any sense of the way David died. All they know is that their lad took a journey from degree student to college drop-out and Bristol was his final destination.

His father Roger, aged 70, from Radyr, Cardiff, said: "It was on October 1 last year that our world was turned upside down.

"David was killed that night. He was 44 years of age and he had done no harm to anyone."

David was born in Nottingham in 1964 before his family settled in Radyr.

David went to Radyr Primary and Comprehensive schools, and then on to Manchester Polytechnic to study for a degree in economics.

In his teens he was reserved, but always had his social set which was keen on cricket and football, as well as the "great obsession" of role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons that occupied the family's dining room for hours in the 1970s.

It was from 1982, when David went to polytechnic in Manchester, that his lifestyle changed.

Mr Hughes said: "His prior interest in music, for bands like Genesis, drew him like a moth to the light to the music scene in Manchester.

"His work took a back seat and his world revolved around the Hacienda Club."

David passed his first year, which came as a surprise to his family, who had received a letter from his tutor asking them if he was still on the course.

He didn't complete his degree but stayed in the Moss Side area of Manchester.

In his early 20s, he left Manchester and lived in Nottingham and Plymouth before arriving in Bristol in the early to mid-1990s.

His father said: "He lived in the flat in Easton for about 10 years. We'd visited him regularly during that time and he also stayed in Radyr.

"David had drug and alcohol problems which he had endeavoured to challenge. The Robert Smith Rehab Unit in Clifton was particularly helpful to him. We visited it and met the staff, who had such warm things to say."

David's family are thankful for the support they have received from Avon and Somerset police as well as kind messages from his school friends in Wales and neighbours in Bristol.

A caretaker at the Twinnell House flats told David's family: "He was a lovely man, polite and helpful to others. He was really well liked and will be terribly missed."