HE was a carefree teenager on his way home for his tea.

The sport-loving 13-year-old had just finished a game of football with a pal after school.

However, just a couple of hundred yards from his Romsey home, Dean Cameron was knocked down as he crossed a busy road.

He had almost reached the safety of the opposite side of a pedestrian crossing when he was hit by a car and hurled 25 metres down the road.

Despite the best efforts of a nearby resident who rushed out to help him, Dean died of head injuries.

The driver of the car, accountant Daniel Harfield, 32, was charged with driving without due care and attention. However, in a huge blunder by the Crown Prosecution Service, Dean's family were robbed of the chance to see Mr Harfield face justice.

A prosecutor broke Crown Prosecution Service rules on fatalities by failing to clear her decision to drop charges with a senior prosecutor - who later said the case should have gone ahead.

Now Dean's family are publicly appealing for fresh evidence and witnesses to try to get the proceedings reinstated so that Mr Harfield stands trial.

Mr Harfield had indicated at a previous hearing that he would be pleading not guilty to the charge of driving without due care and attention.

Dean's father, John Cameron, 59, said: "This is the 21st century. He should have faced justice."

Mr Cameron, a lorry driver from Westbury, Wiltshire, added: "People say he's got to live with it for the rest of his life, but what about me and my family?

"Every minute of the day I think about it. It just won't go away. It will never go away. It's ruined our family for the rest of our days."

Dean, who was a Daily Echo paperboy, died on February 21 last year, and after a police investigation, Mr Harfield was charged with driving without due care and attention.

However, in September, senior prosecutor Louise Holmes decided to ditch the case after visiting the scene, considering witness statements and speaking to police officers involved.

In a letter to Dean's family - which added insult by confusing Dean's name with Mr Harfield's - Mrs Holmes said she had decided that there was "not a realistic prospect of a conviction".

She said that a woman driving behind Mr Harfield's car and a passenger in another car on the other side of the road did not see Dean on the crossing.

Another driver's evidence was discounted as unreliable because the female witness gave the wrong colour of Mr Harfield's car.

Mrs Holmes also pointed out that a cyclist who passed Dean as he was approaching the crossing said that the teenager was riding a black bike, his hood was up and that he was going quickly. She added that the evidence suggested Mr Harfield was not speeding, the lights on the crossing were green, and earlier braking would not have prevented the impact.

Police experts said that Mr Harfield was travelling at about 40mph.

Mr Harfield had indicated that he would plead not guilty and he later told an inquest, which recorded a verdict of accidental death, how he had first seen Dean when he came across the front of his car, a silver Ford Fiesta.

Mr Cameron believes that there was enough evidence for Mr Harfield to stand trial.

Hampshire's chief prosecutor, Nick Hawkins, admitted that Mrs Holmes, and an unnamed deputy district crown prosecutor with whom she had consulted, may have breached CPS rules by not clearing the decision to drop charges with him.

In a letter to Mr Cameron, he issued a full apology, saying: "I offer an unreserved apology to you and your family for not securing justice for Dean.

"Whilst I could not have guaranteed that Mr Harfield would have been convicted of any offence, he should have stood trial, and I take full responsibility for the fact that he did not stand trial."

His view was backed by Chris Newell, legal advisor to the director for public prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald, England's top prosecutor.

He said: "It is evident there have been errors in CPS Hampshire's handling of the case. I believe the case should have been prosecuted."

Mr Hawkins said that he had issued a reminder to all staff that cases involving a fatal road traffic accident should be referred to him whenever significant decisions are made, and he confirmed that a professional conduct investigation had been launched.

Mr Cameron branded the blunder "sheer incompetence" and said he was given no warning that the charges were being dropped until he turned up to a hearing a New Forest Magistrates' Court.

"The police went for the most easy charge to get a conviction, but the CPS blew it," he said.

"She Louise Holmes didn't follow protocol and should have been punished.

"If I made a mistake in my job like she did I would have been sacked."

Mr Cameron said that he was still waiting for a written apology from Mrs Holmes and at least an expression of remorse from Mr Harfield. He has still not received a reply from a recent letter.

Since Dean's death, anti-skid surfaces, railings and bollards have been installed at the crossing in Winchester Hill, near Viney Avenue, where he was killed.

The Daily Echo attempted to contact Mr Harfield, but he declined to comment.