A TALENTED student died after a drunken end-of-term students' prank went wrong, an inquest heard.

Martyn Filder, 22, a final-year business studies student at Bournemouth University and former Saints Academy footballer, suffered fatal head injuries in a freak accident on March 24.

His death was the second tragic blow in a year for the Filder family, who live in Bishop's Waltham.

Last Easter Martyn's mother Mavis, 52, died during a flight to the UK from Australia, when she suffered an abdominal haemorrhage following complications arising after surgery she had received on holiday.

However, the family were able to take some comfort from Martyn's death.

The Bournemouth inquest heard how several lives had been saved after Mr Filder's heartbroken father Ian gave permission for his only son's organs to be transplanted.

Mr Filder's heartbroken family and friends wept as they heard how the popular 22-year-old had downed five or six pints of lager and several 'alcopops' at the university bar before setting off to walk back home to Kemp Road, Winton.

Craig Rickman recalled how members of the group had been pushing a 5ft supermarket goods cage found earlier in the university grounds.

"Four got into it before it started rolling down a steep hill. I remember it hitting the kerb, tipping over and them all spilling out," Mr Rickman said.

"Martyn had his back to the open side so he wouldn't have had any warning."

Graduate Neil Cowling of West Cliff Road, Bournemouth, said he had taken a day off work to join the end-of-term celebrations.

Mr Cowling said: "It was traditional for everyone to gather in the pub early on the last day of term.

"Martyn was merry when we left at about 5.30pm. Taking the trolley was just a drunken idea.

"Four of us climbed in and the next thing I knew it was rolling down the hill at running pace. There was a parked car on the left-hand side, so we leaned over to avoid it.

"The trolley must have hit the kerb and we all flew out.

"I landed on someone else and was winded for a minute or so. I was bruised, two others had suffered cuts to their legs, and Martyn was lying on his back in the bushes. His nose was bleeding."

Matthew Laing said how he and his companions had been "playing silly drunken games" with the trolley before tragedy struck.

"Martyn was the last to get in. When they all fell out we were laughing, but then we saw Martyn wasn't moving and I called an ambulance."

Another friend, Andrew Newland, said: "It was just an impulse thing.

"Martyn jumped into the trolley as it was moving. I remember telling him to turn round because he was facing the wrong way."

Dr Barry Newman, a consultant in critical care at Poole Hospital, said Mr Filder's condition had deteriorated following his admission, and brain stem tests the next day confirmed he had died.

A post mortem showed Mr Filder had died from a brain haemorrhage due to trauma.

Afterwards his father Ian, a British Aerospace engineer, said: "He was absolutely brilliant, a very caring young man.

"I didn't realise how popular my son was until his funeral. The church was full of his friends.

"Martyn's kidneys, liver and pancreas were transplanted. I received an anonymous card from a recipient of one of his kidneys. She was so grateful to be off dialysis and said she would look after it."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Sheriff Payne, the coroner for Bournemouth, Poole and East Dorset, said: "Martyn's death was the very unfortunate outcome of a jape that went seriously wrong.

"Obviously drink had some involvement and made people more daring than if they had not been drunk.

"But I don't rate getting into the trolley as something that was dangerous to someone sober."