TRIBUTES were paid to tragic father-of-five Mark Webb, as mourners gathered in York for the funeral of the murder victim.

Mr Webb, 40, who died earlier this month after being found with his throat cut in Acomb, was described as a “family man and friend”.

Dozens of his relatives and friends filled York Crematorium yesterday for his funeral, nearly four weeks after his death.

They heard the “mischievous and fun” personality of the grandfather-to-be would live on through his youngest son, Marshall.

The service was told Mr Webb left school aged 15 to work in the farming industry and had become a father at a young age. His interests included music, computers and supporting Manchester United.

Anne Spears, who led the service, told the 60-strong congregation: “We may never fully understand the circumstances surrounding Mark’s death, but we must be grateful he is not now suffering.”

Mr Webb, who grew up in Acomb and had lived on Cornlands Road, was described as a “loving” man who took his son Jamie on fishing trips and had been filled with pride when his daughter Megan-Lee won a literary competition and had a poem published.

The service was also told he loved his son Adam’s sense of humour and heard his daughter Samantha was expecting his first grandchild, while Mrs Spears said Marshall “looks like he is going to be just like his dad”.

She said: “Mark loved all his family and saw them every day.

“There will be a gap in your lives. Mark was a much-loved son, brother, brother-in-law, father and friend to many.”

Mr Webb’s nephew Matthew echoed the sentiment, saying: “We all knew Mark as a family man and a friend”. His sister Julie spoke about their childhood days playing on a sandy bank in Clifton and recalled a time when he once had to wear a pink jumper after a soaking during a family trip to the seaside.

Mr Webb’s former wife Susie clutched their youngest son and Westlife’s You Raise Me Up played, before Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight played as they filed out of the service.

• An inquest into Mr Webb’s death has heard he was found collapsed next to a house in Middleton Road on March 4, and was pronounced dead at York Hospital later that day. The inquest has been adjourned until after the trial of 29-year-old Brian Cox, of no fixed address, who has been charged with murder.