Personal injury news

Boy’s death remains unexplained after motorcycle accident

Mystery surrounds the death of a petrol-sniffing schoolboy who passed away following a motorcycle accident, after an inquest failed to establish why the youngster died.

14-year-old Steven Nolan crashed his off-road motorbike into a wall outside a dental surgery and was thrown from the vehicle on October 4th 2005. Unconscious and bleeding, he was rushed to a local hospital but doctors were unable to save him.

The incident occurred in Somercotes in Derbyshire, and witnesses told police that the teenager appeared to be "either drunk or on drugs" as he weaved erratically across the road on his bike.

It originally appeared that the impact of the crash had killed Nolan, but a subsequent autopsy found no personal injuries that could be attributed to his death. A small cyst was found on his brain but the pathologist found no evidence to confirm that this had been fatal.

A friend told a police officer that the teenager occasionally sniffed petrol fumes from his bike's fuel tank, but no inhaled vapours were found in his system.

The officer, PC Colin Buxton, told the inquest, "He said it made Steven go light-headed and gave him a buzz."

North Derbyshire Coroner Tom Kelly said that, despite the motorcycle accident, the reasons for Steven's death would remain unexplained.

An open verdict was recorded.