AN INQUEST jury this week returned a verdict of accidental death on Lamerton schoolboy Kieran Horn, who was killed in a quadbike crash on the family farm.

The jury at Exeter ruled that Kieran lost control of the Suzuki quadbike and fell off the overturned vehicle suffering fatal injuries. He was not wearing a helmet at the time.

The jury said Kieran, eleven, had been moving an electric fence while helping his dad at the time of the incident on March 16, 2011 at New Venn Farm in Lamerton.

A pathologist said Kieran 'most likely 'died as a result of the accident' but said he could not 'completely rule out a cardiac cause'.

The jury heard that sports-mad Kieran was always keen to help his dad on the family's sheep and cattle farm and regularly rode the 400cc Suzuki quadbike.

Father-of-two of Charlie Horn said in a statement his oldest son Kieran was a 'fit and healthy' boy who excelled as an equestrian and was also a triathlete and played tag rugby, football and cross country.

He said they had one quadbike on the farm and Kieran regularly rode it and had watched a safety video about quadbikes too.

Mr Horn said his son could tow or reverse a trailer with the bike and he had never ridden it 'in a reckless fashion'.

He said Kieran had come home from primary school and changed into his green and yellow boiler suit and wellington boots and asked his dad if he wanted some help. He then went into a nearby field to move a 250 metre section of electric fence which he had done 50 times before.

Mr Horn said it was still daylight and Kieran, who was not wearing a helmet, was 'not being rushed or pressed to finish quickly'.

He said he did not see his son take the quadbike but thought the job should have only taken him 15 minutes. He tried to ring his son on his mobile phone but the boy had left it in the farmhouse and then went out to find him. He saw the quadbike on its side 200 metres away in the dry and rutted field.

Mr Horn told the inquest: 'I ran. The bike was on its side and the engine was not running. Kieran was on the far side of the bike, face down and not moving. I rolled him over.'

He saw his son had purple tinges on his face and lips but there was no blood but his eyes were fixed and he was not breathing.

Mr Horn said he tried to revive his son by mouth to mouth resuscitation and chest compressions but he said: 'He was just limp'.

He said he did not know if he did the right thing, but he picked up his son's body and placed it on the quadbike after he had got it back on its wheels, and drove it to a barn on the farm — having called his own father Stephen to ring 999 for help.

Mr Horn then rushed to a nearby school to fetch his wife Elaine.

Kieran's grandfather Stephen said: 'He asked me could he take the quadbike and I had no hesitation in letting him take it. I had no reason to be concerned. He drove off in the normal steady way.'

'Kieran was mature beyond his years, on the farm every day of his life. I never saw him fool around on the bike.'

A police vehicle examiner Geoffrey Chapman examined the quadbike and concluded it was in a 'serviceable condition and had been reasonably well maintained'.

But the jury heard that the quadbike Kieran was riding had a sticker on it, saying it should not be ridden by anyone under the age of 13. Georgina Speake, the Health and Safety inspector who reviewed the case, said it was 'unacceptable practice' for children as young as Kieran to ride such a machine, as they were simply not big enough to keep the vehicle steady off-road.

Coroner Elizabeth Earland extended her 'great sympathy' to the family.