A TAXI driver was speeding when he hit a schoolboy, an inquest was told yesterday.

Simon Paterson, 13, was knocked down and killed as he dashed across a road, the Teesside Coroner heard.

Cab driver Keith Featherstone told police: "He came from nowhere - like a bullet out of a gun."

Tests showed that the Ford Mondeo was probably travelling between 31 and 39mph when school sprinter Simon was knocked down outside his home in Thornaby Road, Thornaby.

PC Neil Empson, a crash scene investigator, said: "I concluded that the vehicle was travelling in excess of the 30mph maximum speed.

"The driver did not react to the pedestrian at the earliest opportunity, and was not driving with due care and attention. At worst, he should have been able to slow down."

PC Empson said that he had used Simon's 100m sports day records from St Patrick's School, Thornaby, in his calculations.

The taxi passengers said they thought it was travelling at a normal speed and one of them shouted: "That stupid kid."

Coroner Michael Sheffield recorded a verdict of accidental death on Simon, who was killed instantly in the tragedy, on November 16, 1999.

The coroner said: "It is a sad story of the premature death of a teenager running home after being with friends."