Gary "Steve" Stevenson, 37 of Tipton, tragically lost his life when, at 2:30am on Tuesday, he was killed by a heavy goods lorry while he was painting an England flag on a mini roundabout on the B4517.
Mr Stevenson, who has a history of jumping on bandwagons, was a popular figure around the town. He was always the first in line to stand outside the local Travelodge, shouting at the residents in case one of them might be an immigrant. Friends remember him fondly, ripping the burqa off a young muslim women who offended him by playing with her children in the park during the half term holidays. They reminisce about the time he pushed a flaming wheelie bin towards a group of riot police, called upon after shots were fired at some brown children on their way home from school.
"He was a true patiot. A legend. A hero," said one friend. "If there would of been a war, or something like that, Stevo would have been the first to sign up. He loved are country and was not in any way a racist or a nazi. No. Not at all. No way. Not Steve. He always put England first, and he never hit his wife. Well, not so hard that it would mark her, anyways."
Friends family and assorted racists have called for the roundabout to be named "The Stevo Roundabout" in his honour. The local council has dismissed this suggestion as "totally bonkers".
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