The following words were written for Joseph’s funeral

Joseph Harry Cable was born in Farnborough Hospital on 24th September 1990. He was named after his grandads Joe and Harry.

He was born in the same ward as his best friend Ben. Jackie remembers hearing a baby crying very loudly. She thinks it must have been Ben as he has always been very loud.

As a young child Joe was very boisterous and required a lot of attention. He wanted to know everything.

Going to St Mark’s primary school he forged friendships with many boys and girls which lasted throughout his short life. Joe was a very loyal person. If he liked you that was it, he would do anything for you.

There were many times when he left the house at 2 or 3am to pick up a friend who was worse for wear, or because they wanted to discuss a problem they had. He was there to listen.

At an early age he joined scouts and after badgering me, he persuaded me to go to father and son camp. It was horrible but we spent some quality time together.

Most of you know of his love for Egyptology. When the film The Mummy came out he could recite the dialogue word for word. One of the things he was very proud of was he would often return to St Marks and teach a class on Egypt. He loved to share his knowledge.

He got excited when he had a school work placement to the British Museum and managed to get me a pass to the basement so we could look at the hidden treasures together.

Joe was different to other boys and very independent. He didn’t like sport (although his friend Dan nearly got him to join the rugby team) but what he did love was knowledge. He loved history but lots of other things which were unusual for a boy of his age. His extensive knowledge was incredible. I remember him watching a programme on how they make pencils with his friend Ollie and went into some detail to explain it to me. That was our Joe!

Joe had style. His early love of Burberry and more recently Ted Baker very much defined Joe.

I remember he once walked into The Ivy, got a table without booking and paid £30 for fish and chips. Only Joe could do that.

He would have loved this church but only if Westminster Abbey was unavailable.

Joe was very entrepreneurial. He would often watch Dragons Den and say he thought of that idea first. He set up his own business, Royal Wash, a car cleaning company.

He worked hard but had to close it down because of fierce competition but not before he sacked me for breaking a windscreen wiper when cleaning a car. Not that he paid me anyway.

What Joe loved most of all were his family and friends. His best friends were Ben, Ollie and Will. Always arguing but fiercely loyal to each other.

Often Joe would order a Chinese take away. There was always too much food but Ben would be there to finish it off.

Joe organised countless holidays to Camber Sands, Centre Parcs and Tenerife. He used to moan, but secretly enjoyed it.

He would often pop over to Tenerife on his own to see Joe and Laura it was like a second home to him.

Many of you here today came to King Cables Bar for a regular party on a Friday or Saturday night. He used to charge £5 a head except for the prettier girls who never paid. You know who you are!

And who can forget his annual Halloween parties (his favourite time of the year) dressing up the house and scaring everyone and himself.

You all grew up together and forged some strong friendships.

One day when Joe was 14 a lady came to our front door and said she had a meeting with Mr Joe Cable.

When she left he told me he was looking at putting a swimming pool in the back garden. Soon after, to my surprise workman turned up to start working on the pool, that was our Joe.

Before Christmas last year he did something quite incredible. On his own he organised for Ben to return from Australia for a visit.

He picked Ben up from Heathrow, drove to Doncaster to surprise Ben’s mum, back to Bromley to surprise Ben’s Nan and then to our house. A secret he kept for 5 months.

He was the only person I know who had read The Da Vinci Code and understood it… I didn’t!

And cook yes he could cook (always told me I couldn’t)

Only problem was he would never clean up the kitchen and spend so much on ingredients, it would work out cheaper going to a restaurant. I regret I never told him how good his food was.

Billy and he had a typical love hate brother relationship. However, unusually, Joe made particular effort in the last couple of months to include Billy in nights out with his friends.

When Billy got a new job he was extremely proud.

As his Mum and Dad we watched Joe grow into very handsome young man. I never told him as he spent enough time looking in the mirror and telling us how handsome he was.

We can honestly say that Joe was the happiest he had ever been.

He loved his job, great social life and lots of friends.

Who can forget Joe’s Jimmy Carr laugh and his broad smile?

Anyone who knew him was blessed to do so.

The loss of Joe will always be with us,

Our son will never marry, raise children, make us grandparents or grow old and I pray that all of you never suffer the pain we are going through.

Therefore we want to give thanks to our son today for the happiness and pleasure he gave in his short and incredible life.

Only now do we realise how many lives he touched, how many cared about him and how much time and effort he spent caring for them.

Again thank you for your love and support today and giving him a send-off he most certainly deserves.

Paul Jackie and Billy Cable