A Jaywick couple are grieving the loss of their son - who died after plunging 5,000 ft from a light aircraft.

Former SAS man Charles Bruce, 45, had been in a twin-seater Cessna 172 being flown by his friend and co-owner of the plane Judith Haig. The pair were returning from a trip to Spain when Mr Bruce jumped out of the plane without a parachute.

He died after suffering multiple injuries when he fell on to a sports field in the village of Fifield, in Oxfordshire.

Twice-married Mr Bruce joined the SAS from the Parachute Regiment and was the first special forces soldier to parachute into the Falklands in the 1982 conflict with Argentina.

Two years later, he was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal. He also served in Northern Ireland.

After leaving the SAS, Mr Bruce worked as a security expert and had been employed as a minder for comedian Jim Davidson. Mr Davidson described him as one of the bravest people he had ever met and said: "I am absolutely devastated.

"We became very good friends and he worked for me for two or three years driving me around and doing security. I feel like I have lost one of my best mates."

Mr Bruce's parents, Ewan and Penelope Bruce, live in Gorse Way, Jaywick.

Mr Bruce said on Friday: "We would rather not say anything more."

Charles Bruce wrote an autobiography under the pseudonymn Tom Read called Freefall, which chronicled his deteriorating mental health.

North Oxfordshire police have confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Bruce's death although the incident is still under investigation.

Published Monday January 14, 2002