A little boy who ran across a road and was tragically hit by a car may have been looking for his older brothers, an inquest heard. Five-year-old Dexter Chapman was hit by a Ford Fiesta on Penpillick Hill in Par on the evening of April 25 last year.

The Lanlivery primary school pupil suffered multiple injuries, but despite the efforts of bystanders and paramedics, he was declared deceased at the scene. At the time of the tragedy, Dexter's family described him as a ‘beautiful little ray of sunshine who brightened up any room’, and ‘the most loving little boy’.

In a statement read out at the inquest held in Truro today (Thursday January 30), Dexter's mum Bryony said he had been a happy and active little boy who liked playing outside with his siblings. She said he had been the "cheeky storyteller in the family". Bryony said that on the day of the collision, Dexter and his brothers had come back from school by taxi at the normal time and, after being told to clean up their rooms, went outside to play in the garden.

She said that Dexter didn't have any hearing or eyesight problems nor any learning difficulties. She added that Dexter and his siblings had always been told of the dangers of the road and to keep clear of them.

Sign up to receive daily updates and breaking news alerts from CornwallLive straight to your inbox

In her statement, she said that Dexter, who was still in his school uniform, had come into the house to say his brothers didn't want to let him play with them, but he then left again to go and find his brothers. She said she told him to play in the back garden and not go to the neighbours' house and play on the swing as she thought he was too small for it.

He came out of the garden which abuts a lane leading to the A390 and walked towards the busy road with two lanes leading to Lostwithiel in the eastbound direction and one lane going towards St Blazey in the westbound direction. The inquest was told that possibly not realising that a car was approaching or not realising the speed the vehicle was travelling at, he ran across the road.

In a statement read out in court, the driver of the Ford Fiesta said he was coming home from work and was sticking to the speed limit in the area. The day was dry and so was the road surface with good visibility and light traffic. He said that as he climbed up the hill, there was nothing in front of his car, and he could see houses on the left-hand side and an overgrown grass verge.

In his statement, he said: "I saw something move. It all happened at speed. The next second a child came out onto the road in front of me. He stopped as if he didn't know where to go. I didn't know which way to steer to avoid him. It all happened so fast."

Despite some emergency braking and trying to move into lane two to avoid Dexter, the driver could not avoid the collision. Another driver travelling towards Penpillick Hill said Dexter ran straight into the road in front of the Ford Fiesta. Dexter suffered unsurvivable multiple injuries as a result of the impact.

PC Rachel Ellis, the investigating officer in the case, told the inquest that there was clear evidence of emergency braking from the Ford Fiesta driver and that he had moved to change lanes to try and avoid Dexter. She added: "There was nothing the driver could have done to avoid colliding with Dexter."

Dexter's dad, Dan, said the five-year-old's brother had been with him but had come back in, and Dexter had been by the side of the road looking for him.

Concluding in a road traffic collision death, assistant coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Stephen Covell said the collision had happened very quickly, and there was no warning for the driver who, despite trying to take evasive action, could not avoid Dexter, who was then hit and sustained catastrophic injuries.

Mr Covell said: "It is likely that Dexter didn't have any experience of crossing the road or did not see the car or misjudged the speed it was travelling at. It's likely that he was just looking for his brother and thought they might have gone back to the road. He ran across the road into the first lane of the carriageway into the path of the Ford Fiesta. Emergency brakes were applied.

"The driver locked his wheels and tried to steer into the outside lane but Dexter continued to run across the road and the collision took place. The driver was unable to avoid the collision."

⚠️ Want the latest Cornwall breaking news and top stories first? Click here to join CornwallLive on WhatsApp and we'll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice ⚠️