HE was described as a loving son who would go out of his way to help others.

But the life of Gerard Shiel was tragically cut short when he was hit by a car and killed.

An inquest into his death revealed that the car driver had been drinking before he struck the 23-year-old at Almondbury Bank in Moldgreen in the early hours of August 14.

But Mr Shiel had also been drinking and was lying down in the road when driver Jason Hughes mistook his body for a bag of rubbish and swerved to avoid him.

Yesterday his family painted a picture of a loving young man who had a troubled time but had been trying to get his life back on track before his death.

He had been due to collect the keys for his new flat in Lindley and hoped to start a new job after getting his forklift truck licence.

But before his death he found out he had been kicked off his training course and started drinking heavily.

He was alone in the road at around 2.30am when he was hit by the silver Vauxhall Corsa.

Retired engineer Michael Hodge saw Mr Shiel from his bedroom window in the minutes before he was hit.

He said in a statement: “I was woken up by a voice shouting and I looked out of the window and saw a man walking up the road.

“He was in the middle of the road and appeared to be drunk. I watched him for about 20 yards.

“I then heard a loud bang, a screech of brakes and then another bang”.

A post mortem examination showed that Mr Shiel died from multiple injuries.

He was described as ‘significantly’ intoxicated at the time of his death.