Two barristers have been killed in a car crash on their honeymoon in northern India.

Samuel Butterfield, 34, the son of a senior High Court judge, and his bride, Michala Emmett, died in Rajasthan on Thursday when their taxi collided with a lorry.

Mr Butterfield was a criminal prosecutor based at Albion Chambers in Bristol and his wife was an employment barrister with the law firm Osborne Clarke, also in Bristol.

According to Indian newspaper reports, the couple were travelling to Jaisalmer, known as the Golden City, when their taxi collided head-on with an empty lorry. The taxi driver, Ramrakh Yadav, from Delhi, was killed in the crash, about 30 miles from Bikaner, where the couple had spent the previous night.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that two British nationals were killed in a road traffic collision on January 10 in Rajasthan when their car collided with a lorry. We are providing consular assistance.”

Judge Douglas Field, sitting at Swindon Crown Court yesterday, said that Mr Butterfield would have gone on to a promising career. He said: “He often appeared in these courts, certainly in front of me on numerous occasions.

“He got on well with court staff and court judges and had a very promising career in front of him.

“It is tragic that Mr Butterfield’s life has been brought to an end in these circumstances. The bench send their condolences to his siblings and to his parents.” The judge asked the court to observe a minute’s silence.

Adam Vaitilingam, Mr Butterfield’s colleague at Albion Chambers, said: “All of us are devastated by this news. He was as popular a member of the bar as there could be.” A neighbour in Bristol said: “They had only been here a couple of years, but they were fantastic people and we were good friends with them. They were married in December.” Another neighbour added: “They were always very warm and friendly and we often chatted to them. It’s a real shock.”

Mr Butterfield was called to the Bar in 1999 and was a member of the Western Circuit. His father, Sir Alexander Neil Logie Butterfield, was appointed to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court in 1995.

Mrs Butterfield had worked for the Treasury Solicitors’ Department and the law firm Eversheds before joining Osborne Clarke in September 2006. She specialised in providing legaladvice to employers in the technology and publishing sectors.

Albion Chambers would not comment on the deaths at the request of Mr Butterfield’s family. Osborne Clarke also declined to comment.

Times Recommends

• Cairo women fight back against harassment
• Weapons-grade flirting for Hillary and David
• More at stake in Start talks than US and Russia