A drunken prank ended in tragedy when a man who lay on the road was run over and killed after being mistaken for a speed bump.



Matthew Webb, 37, had been drinking at a pub near his home in Thatcham, Berkshire before crawling onto the road, an inquest heard on Wednesday.



The hearing was told how Mr Webb had been knocking on doors and running away, before lying down in front of oncoming traffic, forcing motorists to swerve across the road to avoid him.



His pal Daniel Gringell said Mr Webb had been drinking beer, Sambuca and rum and was “full of high spirits, just being crazy.”



He added that he and other friend Oliver Lee warned him to stop.



When Mr Webb was approached by an off-duty police officer, he jumped up from the road and ran away laughing.



But motorist Chloe Claridge failed to spot him and drove straight over him, dragging him under her car and killing him instantly.



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Miss Claridge told the hearing: “I don’t know how I didn’t see him there but there were lots of people and I got distracted.”



She said that she went over what she had believed to be a speed bump, and thought she had burst a tyre.



She said: “But then I saw there was a person lying in the road.”



PC John Goggin said two witnesses told him they had seen Mr Webb before the incident “crawling in the road like a cat”.



Mr Webb’s blood alcohol level was more than one-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving.

Berkshire Coroner Peter Bedford said that although Mr Webb was a grown man, his actions were not mature.



He said: “These actions I believe, led to his tragic and unnecessary death. To lose your life in these circumstances is a tragic waste of life.”



The inquest recorded a verdict of misadventure.

























































