A FORMER Ringwood School pupil killed in a “catastrophic” car crash in Bransgore was nearly three times the drink-drive limit when he died, an inquest heard.

Southampton Coroner's Court heard Ceejay Broadhead, from Avoncliffe Road, Southbourne, was seen taking part in drinking games at the Carpenter's Arms before crashing his Ford Focus into a phone mast in Burley Road.

One of Ceejay’s six siblings, his brother Myles, was one of the first discover him at the scene of the accident just after 12.30am on Thursday, August 15.

One of his friends, Mike Harris, had seen Ceejay drink at least three pints of “strong” lager, a bottle of Desperado lager, a shot of whiskey and two shots of apple liqueur before leaving the pub.

The inquest heard Ceejay cycled on a friend's bike back to an address in Poplar Road, where he had left his blue Ford Focus, and then drove back to catch up with his friends, who were walking along Burley Road to a friend's house. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Moments after hearing the crash the group of friends came across the scene. Mr Harris said when Myles came across the car he was screaming “Ceejay, what have you done?”

A post mortem found he had been 2.8 times the limit.

Determining a verdict of accidental death, deputy coroner for Southampton Gordon Denton said: “There appears to be no reason whatsoever for Mr Broadhead to be driving at night. His death was due to him driving with such a quantity of alcohol and speed.

“Furthermore matters were compounded by his not wearing a seatbelt. If there is any redeeming feature of this tragic accident, it is that no one else was hurt.

“Don't drink and drive has a very true and tragic meaning and I trust that is one of the lessons that will be learnt from it.”

At his funeral his parents Paul and Kay wrote a joint speech.

They said: “You were too full of life to be taken away from us so soon.

“You are our baby boy, our youngest son and our free spirit, our beautiful Ceejay. We can't imagine our life without you and we hope you are looking down and seeing how much you are loved.”