TRAGEDY HITS FAMILY AGAIN

The deaths have left their devastated family trying to come to terms with a second tragedy in the space of a few months.

Margaret Kensett, 20, and her elder sister, Lena, 25, died in the early hours of Friday when the car they were travelling in hit a lamp-post after a night out in Brighton.

The tragedy occurred only seven months after their 16-year-old cousin, Jay, died in a knife incident in Whitehawk.

The sisters' parents, Len and

Maggie Kensett, of Foredown Road, Portslade, paid tribute to their daughters and spoke of the Kensett family's heartbreak. Mrs Kensett, 43, said: "It's like a light in our souls has gone dim. They were our beautiful, beautiful girls."

Lena leaves her husband, Jeremy Ring, and their four children, Lauren, seven, Demi, five, Jez, 18 months and Chantelle, nine months.

The family will learn from doctors today whether Lena was pregnant at the time of her death.

Margaret, who lived with her parents, worked as a secretary and was well known for her kind and caring nature.

One of the sisters' uncles, Angus Barratt, 32, said: "The whole community is absolutely devastated. They are all asking how much one family can take. Everybody is in a state of shock."

Lena and Margaret had spent Thursday evening in Brighton when they accepted a lift home from two men they had met in Steamers nightclub.

Minutes later, the Rover 827sli crashed into a lamppost outside the Queen's Hotel in Kings Road.

Both women died instantly.

The two men, Hayden Jefferies, 26, of Albert Road, Brighton, and Mohamed Hrimile, 35, sustained critical injuries.

One was released from hospital yesterday while the other remains in hospital .

Surviving sister Natalie, 23, heard the news just hours after returning from a holiday in Ibiza.

She said: "We were sisters and we were best friends. I loved them so much."

Everyone in this family has lost someone - a sister, mother, daughter, niece or wife

FOR young mum Lena Ring, it was a rare night out which she had been looking forward to for days.

With four young children at home, Lena, 25, did not have much opportunity to go out socially with her sisters, all of whom lived within yards of each other in Portslade.

With Natalie, the middle sister, away in Ibiza, Lena and Margaret were feeling a bit left out so decided to go out and do a bit of dancing of their own.

It was a night that would end in their deaths and leave a family once again torn apart by tragedy.

Everyone has lost someone in this family, whether it is a sister, mother, daughter, niece or wife.

The sisters' devastated mum, Maggie, who has nine brothers and sisters, said: "We are a large family and every one of us is grieving right now. We are still in a state of shock."

Natalie, 23, returned from holiday on

Friday morning to hear both her sisters had died hours earlier.

She said: "Margaret was supposed to be coming with me to Ibiza. I wished I had dragged her with me now.

"Before I left, we kissed and cuddled in case anything happened while I was gone.

"If I had been here, I would have been with them that night."

Fighting back tears, Mrs Kensett added: "I wouldn't let her go because I was frightened something would happen."

The two girls had spent the night out in Brighton, ending the evening in Steamers nightclub in Kings Road.

Mrs Kensett said: "Lena rang me from the nightclub saying she would be home soon.

"I told her to take a taxi and I would pay from this end, but she said, 'It's OK mum, someone has offered us a lift'."

It appears the sisters met two men in the club who offered them a lift. Minutes after setting off, the Rover 827sli went out of control and hit a lamp-post outside the Queen's Hotel.

Both women died instantly. The two men sustained critical injuries and were taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

The tragedy has left the close-knit family heartbroken. They are still trying to come to terms with the death of the sisters' cousin, Jay Kensett, in March.

The promising young boxer

suffered fatal knife wounds in an incident in Whitehawk Way, Brighton, and died at the scene.

His death shocked the entire community and Jay's parents, John and Kim, relied on their family to help them through the terrible tragedy.

Now the family have to rally round again as they try to cope with the death of the two sisters - John and Kim's nieces.

John's brother, Len Kensett, 46, said: "They've been round every day since the crash. They feel sick. The girls were very close to their cousins."

His wife added: "They used to go out with Jay's brothers and, after his death, they would comfort each other. We were just coming to terms with Jay's death and now this."

Lena lived with her young

family in Forge Close, Portslade, just around the corner from her parents.

She had been married for nine years to Jeremy Ring, a self-employed plumber. They had met when they were at Portslade Community College, the school all three sisters attended.

They married about a year later.

Mrs Kensett said: "Lena was an adoring mum who loved her children so much.

"She always wanted a big family. She was a lovely mum and Jeremy adored her.

"He has tried to explain to the children what has happened, but they are still taking it in. They just want to see their mummy.

"If we find out Lena was

pregnant, the baby will be named and buried with her."

Natalie insisted the entire family would take responsibility for bringing up her sister's children.

She said: "We will bring them up together. Jeremy is not going to be on his own. We will not let that happen. I will bring up Lena's children like a mother."

Lena's best friend, Tara Hunter, 25, added: "I loved her and I miss her and I will do everything I can to make sure the kids are taken care of. Those babies will not go without anything."

Margaret, 20, lived with her parents in Foredown Road and worked as a secretary at her uncle's ceiling firm in Lancing.

A strict vegetarian, Margaret was known for her caring and sensitive nature.

Mrs Kensett said: "She loved life. She loved music and going out dancing. She was beautiful - she had plenty of admirers. She was very happy and full of life.

"When she was at school, everybody called her Mother Superior. She would always be looking after the other kids."

This weekend, Mrs Kensett found a note written by her youngest daughter just a month ago.

Mrs Kensett said: "It was like a millennium message. Margaret had written 'By the time I'm 21, I will be rich and famous. I will have a lovely husband and lovely children. I will be slim and tanned."

Plans for the funerals have not yet been finalised, but Mrs Kensett wants a horse and carriage for each of her daughters to take them to the crematorium.

For the last few days, the family have gathered as one at the sisters' parents' home in an effort to offer comfort to each other and share their grief.

Lena's husband, Jeremy, and their four children have spent the last few days staying with their grandparents and playing with their Auntie Natalie's seven-year-old son, Lenny.

After Jay's death, his mother, Kim, recalled how she had seen her son die in the street.

She said: "I had to watch him die. You never expect to see the death of one of your own children. It isn't something you're supposed to see."

More than 300 mourners took part in a funeral procession from the family home in Whitehawk to the Woodvale Cemetery.

Jay's coffin was blessed in the entrance to the North Chapel's entrance to the strains of Tina Turner's Simply the Best.

Among the mourners were Whitehawk councillor Mo Marsh and Kemp Town MP Des Turner.

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