A TEENAGER worried about being late for school died from severe head injuries in a road accident as he rushed to catch his bus.

Ashley Stanley, aged 14, died in intensive care two days after he ran out from behind parked cars into the path of an on-coming car.

An inquest in Bolton was told that Ashley, of Alexander Road, Prestolee, was keen to get to school because he had been late several times as his normal bus kept not turning up.

His distraught mother, Michelle Stanley, who broke down during the inquest, said: "He loved it at school.

"He was doing well and he took part in everything.

"He had been getting into trouble for being late for school because the bus was late."

On the Monday morning of May 18, Ashley's bus had again not turned up on Market Street, Stoneclough.

The teenager spotted the next bus 45 minutes later from the telephone box where he had rung his mother telling her he was going to be late for school at Prestwich High.

The inquest heard he then ran straight out from behind a parked car near the junction with Sulby Street and only yards from a zebra crossing.

He was struck by a Ford Scorpio car and "flew" in the air before hitting his head on the windscreen and falling to the ground.

His father Anthony had only stopped giving him lifts to school two weeks before when he changed his job.

Ashley was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital but then transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, but doctors could do nothing to save him.

His parents agreed to his life support machine being switched off after severe swelling killed his brain.

Sarah Jones, a teacher at Bury College, was on the bus that Ashley was running to catch.

She said: "I saw a young lad run straight into a car.

"He went onto the car and up into the air.

"It happened so quickly."

The Ford Scorpio car was driven by 56-year-old businessman Harold Cohen of Wentworth Avenue, Whitefield.

Mr Cohen, who owns a DIY business in Leigh, told the inquest: "He just came out of nowhere.

"He just came right onto my car."

Ashley's mother told Mr Cohen at the inquest that she believed he must have seen her son before Ashley ran into the road.

But Mr Cohen, who was only driving at around 15 mph, said: "I couldn't do anything."

He added: "I think about him everyday of my life."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Martin Coppel, said: "Through no fault of his own Ashley was late and no doubt because he is properly conscientious he was desperate to catch the bus and wasn't as careful as he should have been."

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