Childhood sweethearts Craig Jackson and Cherry Turner were living the perfect life until one fateful night set off a chain of events that plunged two close-knit families into unimaginable grief.

Having fallen for each other from the young age of 13, the happily engaged couple were searching for wedding venues abroad, both with secure jobs and plans to move into their 'forever home' together.

Craig, who worked for his father-in-law's locksmith company, and Cherry, who ran her own thriving beauty business, 'had everything to live for', family members say.

But their lives were shattered on December 12, 2021, when armed police officers and dogs swooped on their Newcastle home and dramatically arrested Craig in his boxer shorts, in connection with an armed robbery.

To his horror, a bewildered Craig was hauled to a police station and quizzed on suspicion of carrying a firearm, driving a stolen car and using a burner phone.

Crucially, blundering Northumbria Police had arrested the wrong Craig Jackson in the West End of Newcastle.

Officers quickly realised they had arrested the wrong man, but it took them two months to inform the couple that Craig was no longer under investigation.

In a devastating double tragedy, both Craig and Cherry have since died, plunging their families into mourning.

Cherry spiralled into a vicious state of anxiety and took her own life aged 31 in July 2022, while Craig refused kidney treatment because he could not live without his partner and died in January this year.

Cherry Turner, 31, took her own life after police mistakenly raided her home and arrested her fiancé Craig Jackson at gunpoint (pictured together)

Mr Jackson was arrested and led away in his underwear by armed officers at his home just weeks before Christmas, leaving his fiancée shaken and distressed (pictured together)

In an emotional interview with the Daily Mail, Craig's father Ian Jackson said he has 'lost complete faith' in Northumbria Police, adding: 'It was totally down to their inadequacy that it resulted in how it did.

'The consequences have been fatal. We've lost two members of our family.'

Breaking down in tears, the 62-year-old added: 'They were guilty as sin. It dragged on for three years.'

Mr Jackson, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer 18 months ago, continued: 'We can't as taxpaying people be paying wages for them to be making inadequate decisions like they have done.

'They can go to the coroner's court and answer to the coroner. Well, it would be a different case if they went to the Crown Court and had to answer to the judge.'

An inquest jury at South Tyneside Coroner's Court recorded a narrative verdict that concluded the raid by armed police 'sparked an anxiety disorder that led to [Cherry's] suicide'.

But Mr Jackson, from Northumberland, said the 'inquest has brought no closure'.

Recalling the dramatic mistaken arrest of his son, he explained: 'It was a night I'll never forget. To be told that my son had been arrested for an armed robbery when it was all ironed as totally incorrect by Northumbria Police.

'That's all we wanted from the start, for Northumbria Police to admit that they were wrong. They could have closed that case within a matter of days, but they kept my son hanging on.

'It had a massive impact on Craig because he knew he was 100 per cent not guilty. And it just dragged on and on and it was really getting to Craig.

'That's what obviously led to the end story of Cherry losing her life.'

Mr Jackson warned police to 'get your facts correct before you go and shatter and destroy people's lives'.

Craig, who received a kidney transplant from his father in 2017, spiralled into a dark place and refused dialysis treatment until his untimely death.

Mr Jackson explained: 'When he lost his partner, it really hit him hard. He didn't go back to hospital for treatment. He didn't want any more treatment, because he had lost his partner, and he said that was enough for him.

'I brought him to live with me at my property for just over a year so I could keep an eye on him, that he didn't do nothing silly or something like that. He lived with me for around 14 months.

Craig's father Ian Jackson (pictured together) said he has 'lost complete faith' in Northumbria Police

Ms Turner had no previous issues with her mental health but the experience left her paranoid and anxious and an inquest has ruled the blunder police operation contributed to her death

'He was very unhappy, but he decided that he was gonna go back to the house that they shared, and he was going to live there.

'But I think every night you'd come home from work and shut the door, and there was nobody there. That really got to him. That's when he started to tell us 'I don't want any treatment' and the kidney failure just caught up with him.'

Craig's sister-in-law previously revealed that he had been 'fighting kidney failure for the last 10 years' before his death.

Mr Jackson fumed at police for arresting his son in his boxer shorts and swabbing him for traces of ammunition - of which there were none.

He added: 'They knew then they had the wrong person but they still went ahead and kept him on investigation.

'I do not understand why they did it, I haven't a clue. I tried to ring them and ask them but I was told the police officer was on holiday, but he would get back with us via an email.'

Describing his son's future with Cherry, he said: 'They bought a starter home and they were looking to up to bigger property.

'I definitely think they would have had children, Craig loves children, he loved his nieces and nephews.

'They had the most beautiful life together. They had everything. Cherry had her own business. Craig had his job with her father in the family business. They were always away at weekends, either walking hills, or adventure and holidays abroad.

'They had everything to live for.

'Them police officers who were involved in the wrong, they go home every night to their wife and their kids. I don't go home to my kid.'

Mr Jackson described his son as 'everything a father would want'.

The couple were left in limbo after police failed to inform them Mr Jackson was no longer under investigation (Mr Jackson and Ms Turner pictured together)

Describing the raid on the couple's home in a statement taken before his death, Craig said: 'I saw green dots reflecting from the wall from the armed police, dogs were barking, sirens were blaring and I was pinned to the ground.'

At a previous inquest hearing, Paul Dunn, the solicitor representing Ms Turner's family, said that a number of police officers who were behind the raid 'got the wrong man' and mistakenly arrested Craig instead whilst investigating a 'serious offence' in the area.

He said: 'That seems to have been admitted by Northumbria Police, but only admitted in the context of an investigation.

'All [officers] concerned...were heavily engaged in attempting to detect those responsible in that crime, but potentially made individual errors in identifying the wrong man.'

The inquest heard that messages were exchanged between officers where they spoke of not getting the right man.

Mr Dunn continued: 'This was not a routine knock on the door, it was the most intrusive of searches, involving multiple police vehicles, an armed response team, all with weapons which were trained on the bodies of Cherry Turner and Craig Jackson.

'It was a full on search which we now know to have had dire consequences.'

Mr Dunn told the hearing that during Craig's arrest, he was taken outside in his underwear before being taken to a police station.

He said Craig remained under investigation even after the real suspect was caught despite it being 'abundantly clear that he was not the suspect in the case'.

The hearing was told that because of this, Ms Turner 'felt the investigation was not all over'.

Mr Dunn added: 'Every time she heard a police car, she was expecting the police to come back and that they had potentially bugged her house. No efforts on the part of her family would change her mind.'

Speaking after the inquest, Cherry's father David Turner told the BBC their family had been living 'a life sentence of pain'.

He added: 'It's so hard every day. You think of it, I would say 50, 60 times a day, you're thinking 'what's happened about Cherry' and the sad loss, you know, we're never going to see her again.'

Craig's brother Jake Mottram said: 'The police knew they'd got the wrong man the next day and should have put it right there and then.

'If they had, Cherry's mental health would not have deteriorated.'

Family member Paula Gray issued a statement on behalf of the Turner family on Facebook.

She said: 'Following the devastating loss of our beautiful Cherry Turner, our family has endured over three long years of waiting for answers.

'This week, we finally stood together at the inquest, side by side with my sister Michelle, my brother-in-law Dave, Cherry's sister Dani and her fiancé Jake, and Jacko's family, his mam Sue, dad Ian, sister Sam and their families. And Cherry and Jacko's close friends. Cherry's younger brother, though unable to be there, carries this grief as deeply as we all do.

'Nothing can truly put into words the pain Michelle and Dave have lived through, nor the heartbreak felt by Dani, Jake, and Cherry's younger brother. As a family, our lives have been changed forever.'

She added she hoped that: 'Cherry and Jacko's story can be heard, honoured, and never forgotten.'

Ms Gray concluded: 'Cherry and Jacko's love was something truly special, two bright souls who brought light, laughter, and joy wherever they went.

'The way they loved one another was pure and unbreakable, a love that will live on in our hearts forever. Though their time here was far too short, their bond and their memory will remain eternal.

'The truth is finally out as to why Cherry and her beloved fiancé Jacko are no longer with us. They may be gone, but their love, their light, and their laughter will never fade.'

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: 'Our thoughts continue to be with the loved ones of Cherry Turner and Craig Jackson following their tragic deaths.

'Following the activity carried out at their address, we conducted an investigation and apologised to Cherry's family and Craig for failings identified.

'We will now take time to carefully consider the findings of the inquest into Cherry's death.'

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The double tragedy of childhood sweethearts sparked by police raid