Personal injury news

Fatal car accident victim was ‘loveable rogue’

The grieving family of a Norfolk teenager tragically killed in a car accident have spoken of their anguish at losing the boy they described as a "loveable rogue".

18-year-old Robert Peter Smith, who lived with a carer near Fakenham, died when the car in which he was a passenger skidded off the road and smashed into trees. The driver and another passenger were taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening personal injuries, but Robert died at the scene from head injuries caused by the impact.

His grandmother, Theresa Brooker, said, "Robert could be a handful but at the end of the day he was loved by everyone who knew him. He had a heart of gold and was a bit of a charmer."

She revealed that the youngster had a tough upbringing and his father died when he was only seven. One of his younger sisters had a rare form of epilepsy, and Robert had spent much of his live living with various different carers. Recently however, she said, he had been happy due much to a year-long relationship that he was having with a teenager called Kelly.

Police are still investigating the exact cause of the car accident and have asked anyone who witnessed the incident at about 1.20am on February 25th 2005 on the A1067 to contact them.