A father-of-two tragically found dead at Holborough Lakes has been described as a "fun, caring man with a contagious laugh who loved his children to the moon and back."

The family of Robert McNaughton, 41, have told of their devastation after his body was discovered by a member of the public in Snodland on Saturday, February 15.

An inquest has opened, where it was heard a post-mortem revealed Mr McNaughton died as a result of hanging.

Mr McNaughton's younger sister, Lucy, says the family are: "Truly devastated and heartbroken by what has happened".

"There is a massive hole in my life and words cannot even explain how hard it is for all of us to be saying goodbye to such an amazing man," she said.

"It’s overwhelming to think he won’t get the opportunity to do the small things we all take for granted like grill his eldest daughter's first boyfriend and walk her down the aisle, and see both of his children grow up to be young women. After all, every daughter needs her daddy."

Lucy McNaughton says her brother was "strong on the exterior but a slight scratch to his surface revealed a soft loveable side".

She added: "Nothing was ever too much for him and if you needed him you could always rely on him to be there, regardless of what you needed he would have always helped if he could.

"He lived life to the full and had a wicked, sometimes inappropriate sense of humor, like myself."

A "devoted father who would do anything for his girls", Mr McNaughton leaves behind two daughters.

Lucy said: "He was a big child at heart and made sure the girls had so much fun growing up like we did.

"He would often have fires in the garden and roast marshmallows as well as building camps in the house.

"His garden was a playground for the kids, and him. He built the girls their own wooden tree house which they loved.

"They always had animals and adored their two dogs, Nyler and Shadow.

"They had chickens and Robert and his eldest daughter would go outside each morning to collect any eggs they had laid."

As well as having fun, Mr McNaughton also made sure the girls learnt good manners and did their homework.

"He would always attend school events so he was part of everything that they did - nothing was ever too much and he loved his children to the moon and back."

Mr McNaughton, who lived in Larkfield and worked as a computer aided design operator, "got up to lots of mischief" as a child himself, Lucy says.

"Robert was older than me by two years although I always said he acted younger," she said.

"Nothing was ever too much and he loved his children to the moon and back..."

"He'd leave a trail of destruction and you'd often find him in his pants on the sofa watching telly.

"We stuck by each other and regardless of the childhood fights we had we always knew that we would have each other’s backs."

With a love of adventure and adrenaline-based sports, Mr McNaughton's favourite hobbies were downhill mountain biking and skiing.

He was a fan of any outdoor activity, often taking his two girls on camping and canoeing trips, or just a simple walk.

Lucy added: "The pain seems to get worse every day as the realisation of him never coming back and never making me laugh or say something inappropriate but very funny.

"He will always be with me and I will ensure he is never forgotten."

Assistant Kent coroner James Dylan adjourned a full inquest until Monday, May 11.

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