THE reason why a man was lying in a road in the moments before his death may never be known, an inquest has heard.

Andrew Cheffins, 23, died from injuries caused when he was hit by a car in Braintree Road, Halstead, at 2.30am on April 1 last year.

An inquest, held in Chelmsford yesterday, found Mr Cheffins died as the result of a road traffic collision.

The court heard the driver of the car which hit Mr Cheffins did not have time to avoid him.

PC Heidi Lee said: “She did see something in the road but by the time she got to Andrew it was too late for her to take action and she unfortunately struck him.

“She stopped further down the road and called her dad who told her to call the police.”

The court heard the driver had only been driving for three months and had a black box fitted to her car. PC Lee said: “She was not speeding a the time of the collision

“Due to a big housing development going there was a temporary speed limit in place of 30mph.”

PC Kat Burke told the court orange marks on the front of the car matched with a T-shirt Mr Cheffins had been wearing at the time.

She said: “Injuries indicated he had been lying on his back in the carriageway.

“We cannot say why he was lying in the road at the time”

Assistant Coroner for Essex, Johnathan Goodman, recorded Mr Cheffins died as a result of traffic collision.

He said: “I could not possibly find Andrew had deliberately been struck by a vehicle.

"I am unable to shed any further light as to how Andrew came to be on the road carriageway when he was struck by a blameless young driver who could not act through no fault of her own.”

Speaking a few days after her brother’s death, Madelynn Cheffins described Andrew as “one in a million”.

She said: “Life has played one of the cruellest tricks imaginable.

“Andrew was a beautiful, kind-hearted, gentle soul who would do anything for his family and friends.

“Andrew was truly unique, literally one in a million, with some weird, yet wonderful ways.”