A HEARTBROKEN mother who found her 25-year-old son dead in the family’s swimming pool has spoken of her overwhelming sense of loss.

Fun-loving mechanic Luke Barnes had his suitcase packed for a holiday in Rhodes when he went for an early morning dip last Saturday.

Now grief-stricken mum Jayne has told the Daily Echo how she is struggling to come to terms with the memories of her last bedtime cuddle with her “beautiful baby” the night before.

Jayne, from Westbourne, said: “I came downstairs first thing and Luke wasn’t around. We were trying to rack our brains about where he could be, and thought maybe he’d gone down the beach because he loved skim boarding.

“I wandered down the garden with a cup of tea in my hand. And there he was, lying at the bottom of the pool. I knew he was dead, I just knew. When I close my eyes, that’s all I see.”

Panicking, and knowing she couldn’t lift him herself, Jayne cried for help.

“We tried so hard to resuscitate him,” she said. “But it was too late. I’m killing myself thinking how I might have helped if I hadn’t spent half an hour wondering where he was.”

Stepdad Ken, a scuba diving instructor, taught Luke to dive, but the family weren’t allowed in the pool if no one was watching.

“This was the one time he didn’t listen,” Jayne said. “I suppose it’s the best way he could have gone. When he was little he’d be in the bath for hours with his Ghostbusters and Thunde-rcat toys, singing away.”

Friends and family talk of a cheeky boy with a wicked sense of humour who was the “King of fancy dress” and passionate about cars, water and music. After leaving Poole High School, Luke did a mechanics apprenticeship with Honda before moving to U-Drive in Christchurch earlier this year.

Outside the devastated family’s Herbert Road home sits a battered VW Caddy that he was turning into a Transformer Bumblebee. Donations at Luke’s funeral will go towards finishing his dream, so friends and family can use the car for road trips.

Older brother Paul, 30, and sister Nadine, 28, will remember their caring ‘Lukie’ who could reel off movie quotes and was always smiling and making people laugh.

They said: “Luke was really cheeky. Everyone, whether they’d known him for five minutes or five years, absolutely loved Luke.

“He was such a beautiful, loving, genuine, extremely talented and funny guy who always said “work hard but party harder”, and he certainly did.

“Our hearts are broken and will never be complete, heaven has gained a party angel. He was the star of our family and is now a bright star in the sky. We love him so very much and miss him unbelievably.”

A lover of drum and bass with mixing decks in his bedroom, he was due to start a music production college course with Ken on Monday and hoped to be a singer songwriter too.

Luke also leaves younger brothers Jason and Jack, dad Kevin and step-mum Patsy.

Luke was a lifelong fan of Tottenham Hotspur, and his family and friends plan to wear last season’s kit to his funeral as a mark of his obsession with the club.