LAUGHTER and tears filled a North Yorkshire church as hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the life of murder victim Liam Miller.

Liam was 20 when he was killed outside a house in Acomb in York in July. Friends and family packed All Saints Church in his home village of Terrington this morning to hear stories about his life and personality. He was described as charming, exceptional, quirky, energetic and free-spirited.

The service, led by Reverends Taff Morgan and Christopher Parkin, included tributes to Liam and heard he was a talented and enthusiastic student of art and loved music.

The congregation had been asked not to wear black, in tribute to Liam, and while Rev Morgan said the funeral was "a very sad occasion", it gave Liam's friends and family "the opportunity to celebrate a life that achieved so much in a short span of time".

Hundreds of people in the church, and more in the nearby school hall, shared laughter as they heard a statement from Liam's family including his youthful exploits - carving his name into an historic artefact at Jorvik Viking Centre on a school trip, wearing his sister Natalie's new shoes to help stretch them out, and annoying his brother Jamie between the ages of seven and 19.

The service was also read words used to describe Liam from the tributes paid to him online and in cards to the family, which included "loving", "dizzy", "inspirational", "exceptional", "amazing", "inquisitive", "warm", "creative" and "charismatic". Friends said it was "a privilege to have known him", and he would "live on in our hearts and thoughts".

David Heathcote, one of Liam's tutors at university addressed the service and said Liam was "a ball of energy, light almost shone out of him".

He said: "As a student, he reminded me of why I'm a teacher, as he was incredibly curious about everything and questioned everything and although in many ways he wasn't the greatest historian in the world, he certainly wanted to know it all and do the best he could.

"I'm really sorry I have to be here at all because I was looking forward to teaching him. We didn't know him very long, but the time we did know him, he really was the most wonderful person."

In a moving tale shared with the family by a friend from Liam's time at Liverpool John Moores University, where he was studying graphic design and illustration, the congregation heard he had become involved in a conversation with a homeless man while on a day out.

The congregation heard: "He was talking to him for ages about boxing and the guy wouldn't leave him alone or let him go. Liam didn't take offence, but continued to talk. Eventually he got away and returned to his flat.

"It had not been long before ge got a phone call from the university reception to tell him the homeless guy just dropped off his student ID card, bank card and a £10 note from his pocket - the guy had robbed him but was so taken with Liam caring enough to spend time talking he had a change of heart and returned the stolen items."

Along with Psalms, the congregation was read the lyrics to Invincible and played Hysteria, both songs by Liam's favourite band, Muse, and his coffin was carried out of the church to a round of applause and the sounds of Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls.

The Press attended the funeral with the consent of Liam's family.