A SPORTY Kidderminster teenager was killed in a bizarre accident as he made his way home from a party to celebrate the end of his GCSEs, an inquest heard.
Duncan Pimm was hit by a car driven by another party-goer on July 9 last year in Bishops Wood Lane, Crossway Green, after deciding to lie down on a grass verge.
The 16-year-old King Charles I High School pupil, of Osborne Close, Kidderminster, died from shock and haemorrhage caused by multiple injuries the night before he was due to be offered the electrical technician apprenticeship he had set his heart on.
He was a keen rugby player and had captained Kidderminster Carolians' under-15s side as well as representing his school at football, basketball, cricket and athletics.
The inquest at Stourport heard that Henry Doe, of Four Winds, Stourport, had organised a party for his son Frazer and his friends to celebrate the end of the exams.
Duncan, who had consumed some alcohol but had not been drinking excessively, had been planning to stay with a friend but left the party early after falling out with his girlfriend.
He had been working all day at Kidderminster's Argos store - saving up for his first holiday away from his parents, Leslie and Carole - and told friends he was tired.
Worcestershire deputy coroner Tim Sherwood heard 20-year-old Matthew Hawks, of Kidderminster, was making his way back to the same party after dropping off some friends at the nearby Mitre Oak pub.
Mr Hawks said he was driving his Peugeot 205 along Bishops Wood Lane at about 11.15pm when he rounded a bend and saw Duncan at the side of the road.
"I just panicked. It all happened so fast. I hit the brakes, the wheels locked and the car skidded and went over Duncan and carried on into a field."
Police told the inquest Mr Hawks, who had two friends in the car with him, was travelling at at least 47mph on a road with a 60mph speed limit.
Mr Sherwood recorded a verdict of accidental death and said it was a tragic case.
He said: "While Duncan was walking home, he decided to lie down on a grass verge.
"As Matthew Hawks rounded a bend he was suddenly confronted by the person he saw lying down and everything clearly happened in a split second.
"He took the decision to slam on the brakes and I have heard evidence from analysis of reaction times that he wouldn't be able to stop in time."
Mr Doe said after the inquest: "It's tragic that leaving school will remain a time in all their lives that they will remember for a very different reason."
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