A University of Sussex scholar has been killed in a motorcycle crash.

Law student Stephen Edwards, 19, died on New Year’s Eve after he crashed the day before in his homeland of Bermuda.

The talented rugby player started at the university in September after getting a scholarship for his studies from law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman, which has an office in Bermuda.

Friends at the university were planning to take part in one-minute’s silence on Thursday night, as tributes poured in the “outstanding young man”.

Fellow Sussex University student William Bosanko wrote on Facebook: “This has been the worst shock to ever deal with. I may have only known you since we started university but you were one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. I will miss you every day mate and the laughs we had.

“Rest in peace, Stephen Edwards, you’ll never be forgotten. My thoughts and prayers go to your family who I know you cared about so much. Still can’t believe it’s true.”

Mr Edwards moved to Oxford in 2013 after getting a grant from the Bermuda Education Network to do a foundation year in law at Bellerbys College. While there, he played rugby for the Gosford All Blacks, where he was known as ‘The Prince’ and won Young Player of the Year.

Club chairman David Hipkiss said Mr Edwards was “known and loved by us all”, adding: “He was an outstanding young man and had his whole life ahead of him.”

Friend and team-mate Luke Newton, 19, said: “He got nicknamed The Prince because he was just a class act, always impeccably dressed and just so graceful. He never had a bad word to say about anyone.”

David Cooke, director of the Bermuda office of Conyers Dill & Pearman, described Mr Edwards as an “exceptionally pleasant young man and a genuinely good person”. He added: “He had an amazing future ahead of him.”

Mr Edwards was taken to intensive care after the crash in the Devonshire province of Bermuda, but died from his injuries at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Police in Bermuda told the Royal Gazette on the island that he appeared to have lost control of his motorbike.