Mystery surrounds the death of a Thorpe Willoughby man whose body was found in a park in Prague.

Tributes have flooded in to trained croupier Nicalos Knight, 29, who had been working in a casino in the Czech Republic for the last two years.

Best friend Andrew Jones, 28, who spent six months with him in Prague, told the Evening Press his parents, Norman and Kay, and brother Matthew, who also live in Thorpe Willoughby, were waiting to find out how he died.

Andrew, who left Nicalos in Christmas to go travelling in Asia, said his friend had been out drinking last Friday and was found dead in a park the next morning.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said the matter was still being investigated by police in Prague and the cause of death was still not known.

She said they had been told about the death by Nicalos's flatmate, Jamie Wallis, who also comes from Thorpe Willoughby.

Andrew said: "I can't believe it - it hasn't sunk in yet. No one really knows what happened to him that night. It's all a bit of a mystery.

"I've spoken to his mum on the phone and she is absolutely devastated.

"Nicalos was an unbelievable person - a real one-off. He loved to experience different cultures, and was loving it in Prague. He was so full of life and energy."

Nicalos was a pupil at both Selby High School and Selby College and trained as a croupier in Leeds after his A-levels.

He worked on a cruise ship off the coast of South America before moving to Prague with his lifelong friend, Jamie.

Andrew added: "Nicalos saw and did more in his 29 years than most people do in a lifetime. I've never met anyone like him."

Ian Rotheray, deputy headmaster at Selby High School, told the Evening Press: "I remember Nicalos as a bright, bubbly lad who was full of life. It's a real tragedy."

Updated: 14:39 Thursday, April 05, 2001