POIGNANT MESSAGES:

Hundreds of flowers line the road

where the tragedy happened

VICTIM

Tattooist Nick

Taylor at work

Three lives tragically cut short, and dozens of people, including a young widow and two children, grieving their losses.

Two teenagers in a car and a motorcyclist were killed when they collided head-on and a third teenager, who was also a passenger in the car, is still critically ill in intensive care.

Police are appealing for information from witnesses to the accident which happened at about 9pm on Friday, Emergency services were alerted by a passing taxi driver.

Dead at the scene were the motorcyclist, Dover tattooist Nick Taylor. 37, of Farthingloe Road, Dover; car driver Paul Doel and passenger Daniel Norris, who were both 17 and lived in Eythorne, Paul in Wigmore Lane and Daniel in Green Lane.

Seriously injured was 16-year-old Nathan Pearson, also from Eythorne, who was taken to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital where he underwent surgery for serious head and leg injuries.

Throughout the weekend, friends and relatives went to the spot where the accident occurred and laid flowers, many with poignant messages. Young friends of the teenagers also gathered at the scene and sat in silence, Flowers have also been placed outside Merlin Tattooing and Piercing Studio in London Road, Dover, which Mr Taylor ran with his wife Tina. She was riding a motorcycle behind Mr Taylor's Harley Davidson when the accident happened. They have two children, Darcy, four, and Jade, eight.

Police said the car was travelling down the hill and was believed to have been overtaking when the accident happened.

It may have gone out of control and crossed to the opposite carriageway, colliding with the motorcycle, said a spokeswoman.

Fire, police and ambulance crews were called to the scene and the road was closed.

NICK Taylor, who had previously served in the Royal Green Jackets and had worked all over the world, set up his tattooing business in Dover nine years ago. He did the tattooing while his Canadian-born wife Tina looked after the body-piercing side of the business. They had recently returned from holiday.

Mr Taylor had his first tattoo, a black panther, when he was 14 years old. Ironically, one of the biggest tattoos he ever did was of a Harley Davidson motorcycle for a man who came from Munich to have the design put on his back. It took four days.

The shop was closed "until further notice" this week as flowers and messages of sympathy built up by the front door.

A keen motorcyclist. Mr Taylor belonged to the Armada Club which is now based in Folkestone. Friends from the 69 Motorcycle Club in Dover were among those paying tribute to him this week.

Paul Doel was a former pupil at Eastry Primary School and Dover Grammar School. He gained GCSE exam passes in 10 subjects, including grade A in art.

Grammar school head teacher Neil Slater said: "Paul was very pleasant and popular. He had a good sense of humour and was very straightforward and honest. He was also a keen footballer and cricketer."

Paul, whose older brother Mark had also been a pupil at the school, returned in September to start his A level studies, including art, but decided to leave, and after undertaking casual work, it is understood he was applying for a job with the Immigraation Service.

THREE people, including two teenagers from Eythorne, were killed in a head-on crash on Whitfield Hill, Dover, on Friday. A third teenager is critically ill in intensive care.

Another boy, who has not been named, but is a pupil at Sandwich Technology School is thought to have been in the car involved in the crash until a few minutes before the accident, which happened at 9pm.

Dead at the scene were motorcyclist Nick Taylor, 37, of Farthingloe Road, Dover, car driver Paul Doel and passenger Daniel Norris, who were both 17.

Seriously injured was Nathan Pearson, 16, also from Eythorne, who underwent emergency surgery at Kent and Canterbury Hospital for serious head and leg injuries.

Mr Taylor ran Merlin Tattooing and Piercing Studio in London Road, Dover, with his wife Tina.

She was riding a motorcycle behind Mr Taylor's Harley Davidson when the accident happened. They have two children, Darcy, four, and Jade, eight.

Paul Doel was driving his father's Rover 217 car down the hill and was believed to have been overtaking when the accident happened.

"It may have lost control and crossed to the opposite carriageway, colliding with the motorcycle," said a police spokeswoman.

Paul, a former pupil at Eastry Primary and Dover Grammar schools, gained GCSE passes in 10 subjects, including grade A in art, last summer.

Grammar School head teacher Neil Slater said: "Paul was a very pleasant and popular lad, with lots of friends. He had a good sense of humour and was very straightforward and honest."

Paul played football for Eythorne Rovers and then Whitfield Wanderers. His brother Mark plays for the club, their mother, Sandra, is the club's treasurer and their father Peter is a committee member.

Daniel Norris and Nathan Pearson, former pupils at Eythorne and Elvington Primary School, also played for Eythorne Rovers.

Daniel's funeral service is at Eythorne Parish Church on Tuesday, April 18, at 1.15pm, followed. by cremation at Barham at 2.30pm.

Anyone with information' about the accident should contact police on 01304 240055.