EMOTIONAL tributes have been paid to a gifted schoolboy who was killed on the A14 as he tried to walk home.The grieving family of 15-year-old Ronnie Alex, 15, from Gipping Place Stowmarket, have spoken for the first time of the youngster who died when he was struck by two vehicles at Bury St Edmunds on January 16.

EMOTIONAL tributes have been paid to a gifted schoolboy who was killed on the A14 as he tried to walk home.

The grieving family of 15-year-old Ronnie Alex, 15, from Gipping Place Stowmarket, have spoken for the first time of the youngster who died when he was struck by two vehicles at Bury St Edmunds on January 16.

Ronnie's uncle John Matthew said it was believed the youngster had tried to walk to his new home in Stowmarket after missing the bus from King Edward VI Upper School in Bury.

Mr Matthew, who lives in Bury, said Ronnie's parents moved to the area from their home in Kerala in India last year so their “bright and charming” only son could receive the education he needed to go into the medical profession.

Their dreams were shattered when the teenager was struck by a lorry and then a car as he made his way along the A14 between the Bury central and Moreton Hall exits.

His uncle said the whole family had been shattered by Ronnie's death. He said: “It is as though we are in a dream and Ronnie hasn't gone. We are in a deep pain which only time will heal, I hope. I don't know how his parents will cope.

“He had achieved so much in such a short period of time. He was top of his class, very organised and hard working but also very kind and caring.

“His parents were very proud of him and even though he was 15 he was still his mum's little boy. They are devastated - they are going to live with this for the rest of their lives.”

A message from Ronnie's cousin Merin to The Evening Star read: “Ronnie, For everything there is a season and a time and purpose for everything under the heavens" Ecclesiastes 3:16. You were supposed to give me away, I love you alot. And I always will.

Love you forever, Merin”

Mr Matthew said he would always remember Ronnie as a charming boy with an almost encyclopaedic general knowledge.

Geoff Barton, headteacher, said Ronnie was one of his most talented students.

He said: “We have lost one of our brightest, most cheerful and most popular students. Ronnie was a genuine all-rounder. He was extremely bright, and a passionate reader.

“We reckon he read several novels each week and impressed his teachers with a quick and inquiring mind. He was also a talented sportsman, and he represented the school at cricket.

“When we heard the news of his death, the school was stunned. Then as the news began to crystallise, students began to write tributes and poems and to channel their grief into thoughts of an ongoing memorial to Ronnie's memory.”