Grief of skydiver's girlfriend

Steve was a bright, lively, funny guy - Ruth Woodhouse

The girlfriend of a skydiver who plunged to his death in north Lincolnshire after his parachute was sabotaged has spoken for the first time about her grief.

Ruth Woodhouse, 24, of Stafford, met Stephen Hilder in January 2003 and started a relationship with him a month later.

She said on Saturday: "The guy was my boy, my friend and I'll miss him."

Army cadet Hilder, 20, died after plunging 13,000ft at Hibaldstow Airfield, north Lincolnshire, last Friday.

Officers revealed that the cord on his main parachute had been deliberately severed as well as the strapping on his reserve chute, and have launched a murder inquiry.

Detectives have taken detailed statements from fellow skydivers, friends of Mr Hilder and people who use the area surrounding the airfield.

Officers have also taken more than 100 calls at the incident room at Scunthorpe Police Station.

Ms Woodhouse, a student at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, near Swindon, Wiltshire, added: "Steve was a bright, lively, funny guy. He was just a typical man who drank beer, farted in bed and refused to eat lettuce.

"He was so passionate about his skydiving he would get withdrawal symptoms if he hadn't jumped for a few days."

Police are investigating where the parachute was stored

She was not present in Hibaldstow at the time of the incident and is not a skydiver herself, although she has made a parachute jump for charity.

She added: "Somebody has taken this sparkly person from the world in the most awful way, leaving a huge gap in not only the lives of his family and myself, but also the close knit communities of skydiving, the Army and the theatre."