Cannabis smoker, 12, killed

A 12-YEAR-OLD boy was killed crossing a busy road after smoking cannabis with friends, an inquest heard.

Pearce Randle, of Derbyshire, England, died after being struck on the afternoon of Friday, May 7.

He and his friends had been playing tag and smoking cannabis, Derby Coroner’s Court heard.

The driver, Dawn Birks, said she had not seen Randle until after the collision.

She told the court she had seen two children crossing towards the central reservation and sounded her horn in warning, but did not see Randle until after the accident.

Derbyshire Royal Infirmary consultant pathologist Dr Andrew Hitchcock, who carried out the post mortem, said Randle had probably been under the effects of cannabis at the time of his death.