The mother of a man who was killed in an arson attack has appealed for information.

Terry Davies, 24, died in the fire at his flat in South Terrace, Littlehampton, on September 12.

Earlier this week Sussex Police confirmed the blaze was being treated as arson and Mr Davies had been murdered.

His mother, Mitzi Price, who lives in Rustington, said: "Even if anyone has the smallest piece of information, just a little snippet, all of it can add up and if anyone can think of anything from that night it could help.

“All I keep thinking is why? Why would someone do that? Why Terry? I think of that all the time.

"I was just in shock when officers came to tell me he had died, it was just a normal working day for us and all I kept thinking was 'he's 24, he can't die'.

“Then I remember feeling completely numb and I still am. You function and do things but really a part of me has died. He has left a huge hole in our lives."

Mr Davies, who had learning difficulties, had lived in the one-bedroom flat on the seafront for 16 months and this was the first time he had properly lived away from home.

Mrs Price said her son had been determined to live independently.

She said: “The flat was a typical man's flat, a bit messy, he was a typical bloke really. I was always like a typical mum, worried about him but he was fine and when he got with Kerry that's when his life started."

Mr Davies met his girlfriend of five months, Kerry Stark, when he started working at Littlehampton Morrisons in February this year.

She continued: "He didn't know Kerry straight away but then they met at a staff party and got talking and that was it. Terry said to me he was going to ask Kerry to marry him, he couldn't keep a secret, he talked to her about it and they were so happy. He was going to ask her on her birthday in November.

“That was so sad as it should have been a very happy day.

"Terry was so popular at work, they've planted a tree for him and they plan put a bench up at his old school, Palatine School in Worthing, as a memorial, where he had many happy days.

“From when he was a little boy, he would offer everyone his sweets and there would be none left for him, that's just what he was like. He always found it hard to learn and always saw things as black and white but he was a real people person.

"He liked working at Morrisons but really he wanted to be a driver, driving coaches or HGVs.

“He loved driving; he would drive around for the sake of driving. When he first started working at Morrisons, he saved up to buy himself a blue Saxo."

Mrs Price said the lead up to Christmas, her son’s favourite time of year, was hard.

She added: "He loved all the lights and as soon as he had his birthday in July, he would start talking about Christmas."

His younger brother Jason, who will be 14 this weekend, said he was close to his half-brother, despite the ten-year age gap.

Jason said: “He used to take me for drives and we were always connected through technology, we'd Skype even though he lived close and we used to play on Xbox Live a lot."

Anyone with information is urged to contact police on 101 or email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting Operation Annexe or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.