Disabled teen died after confronting yobs in town family had moved to for better

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Disabled teen died after confronting yobs in town family had moved to for better

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Last updated at 5:53 PM on 29th March 2011

A disabled teenager, whose family moved house so he could escape being tormented

by yobs and bullies, died after being punched to the ground in a petty row over

a football, an inquest heard today.

, 18, had become 'hyper' and 'excitable' because a group of youths

wouldn't let him play with their football, which they had been kicking around

outside a takeaway restaurant.

The teenager, who suffered from a form of autism and a neurological condition

that affected his co-ordination, was being tormented and became so upset that he

punched one of the 'older and bigger' youths.

They were separated, but instead of walking away the youth, Carl Reade, punched

Mr with a single blow to the head, the inquest heard.

An eye witness said there was a delay of about 20 or 30 seconds before Mr

fell flat on his face against the concrete pavement without putting out his arms

to break his fall.

He tried to get to his feet and then 'fell backwards', once again hitting his

head on the ground.

Mr was unconscious and was given emergency first aid by passers-by before

paramedics arrived at the scene. He was rushed to hospital, but died when his

life support machine was switched off the following day.

Four youths involved in the incident were identified and later arrested on

suspicion of manslaughter by police.However, the Crown Prosecution Service

infuriated the victim's family by deciding against pressing any charges.

The inquest into Mr 's death began last October but was halted when the

coroner listened to medical evidence and insisted on asking the CPS to

reconsider its decision.

Yesterday coroner Nicola Mundy resumed the hearing at Doncaster, South

Yorkshire, after the CPS 'declined to investigate the matter any further'.

The dead man's mother, Heidi , told the inquest her son had Asperger's

Syndrome and Dyspraxia, a condition which she described as 'mild brain damage'.

The mother-of-four and her husband Clive, a former soldier, moved from Leicester

to Doncaster 18 months earlier because of problems with 'bullies', gangs of yobs

and anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood.

Mrs said her son's behaviour was 'terrible' as a child, but he had made a

'fantastic' improvement in the months before his death. She said he usually

wouldn't make eye contact or talk to strangers and had a tendency to become more

affectionate after drinking alcohol.

On the day of the incident in June 2009, Mr had spent the early evening in

the park with his sister -Ann, 17, and her 19-year-old boyfriend .

They had 'a few drinks', but were described as being friendly and well-behaved.

The trouble started when Mr and walked past a nearby pizza takeaway,

where the group of youths were playing football.

Gazmir Hoxha, who worked at the restaurant, said he heard 'shouting and

swearing' and noticed Mr becoming 'hyper' because the other youths kept the

ball away from him.

Kirstie , a customer, said there was shouting, pushing and shoving and Mr

was in the middle of the group.

'It was like was a rugby ball in between it all. There were six or seven

with him in the middle,' she said.

'I saw Carl Reade raise his fist and at that point I looked away. He was squared

up to , the next thing I heard was 's head hitting the concrete.'

She said she rushed outside and found him 'unconscious and responsiive.'

Mrs wept as she described being called to the scene to find 'my son on the

floor with police officers doing CPR'.

She added:'I was in shock, I didn't know what to do.'

Professor Ince, a consultant who examined the victim's brain, said he died

from a haemorrhage due to a 'head injury'. He said he couldn't say for sure

whether a punch or impact on the pavement caused the fatal injury.

Last year the CPS defended the decision not to prosecute by pointing to

disagreement amongst medical experts and the possibility that 'two men' who

allegedly assaulted Mr may have been acting 'in self-defence'.

The hearing continues.