Tributes to popular pupil

Tributes have been paid to a ten-year-old boy who died after being hit by a car on Saturday.

Deividas Jucys of Sleaford Road, Newark, who was known as David, died in Queen’s Medical Centre in the early hours of Monday morning.

He received serious head injuries following a collision with a silver Jeep Cherokee in the incident on Friary Road, Newark, on Saturday at around 5pm.

David, a pupil at the Mount Primary School, Newark, was taken to hospital by air ambulance.

Mrs Sandra Bunnell, the head of the Mount School, said David, who joined the school straight after his family moved to the area from Lithuania, would be remembered for his sense of humour and cheeky smile.

She said: “I came to the school five years ago and he didn’t have any English at all when he came so he obviously showed great courage and determination in learning English and integrating into the school.

“He was somebody who really had a great sense of humour and everybody remembers him with his friends and remembers his smile. He made people laugh.

“The children have been talking about their memories of him and they remember him with his friends laughing and having fun.

“He was great at sport, particularly at football and hockey, and he was a really good team player who would encourage other children.”

Mrs Bunnell said children had made memory boards about David and had spent time talking about him.

She said a small memorial service for youngsters in David’s year group was held on Monday morning when children began to create a memory wall and the school would liaise with his family about a further memorial.

Staff at the New Baltica shop opposite the family’s home on Sleaford road began a collection to raise for David and his family on Sunday.

The shop owner, Mr Evaldas Sidlauskas, said the family were well known to staff in the shop who wanted to help when they heard that David had been involved in an accident.

He said: “It’s just awful what has happened. We thought it would be for us to support people from our community.”

After David’s death was announced on Monday the shop lit candles in his memory next to a picture of him in his school uniform.

Floral tributes have been placed at the scene of the accident at the roundabout at the junction of Sleaford Road and Friary Road.

The cards include some from David’s school friends. A card signed Monica and Phoebe said: “You was an amazing friend, we will miss you and you will never be forgotten.

A tribute signed Jessica read: “Thinking of you makes us sad but we from the Mount know you’re now in a better place.”

Another read: “Gone too soon.”

Mr Roger Linnell, unit manager with the air ambulance, said the helicopters crew liaised with police after landing in the grounds of the Mount School to attend the incident.

Mr Linnell said the crew were unable to unlock the gates to the field so asked the police to close the road so they could land on the road near the scene while David was being treated by paramedics.

He said: “It was a bit of a difficult landing for the pilot but public safety has to come first and we had to make sure all the roads were closed but it was a tricky landing.

“We have done things like it before but it has to be a life threatening incident as obviously this was.

“The police handled the situation really well. They were excellent.

“The public were really quite good and I think everybody realised it was quite nasty.”

Mrs Annie Cresswell of Ringrose Close, Newark, said she saw the air ambulance landing on Saturday.

Mrs Cresswell said she used to live on Sleaford Road and always thought the crossing area on Friary Road was dangerous.

She said: “It’s just such a shame because it’s an accident I thought would happen. It’s so dangerous and I always encouraged my children not to cross there.

“My heart just goes out to the family.”