Having left Whitestyles School in June Josh was to start his year 8 at St Andrews Boys School in Worthing. This is an all boys school but certainly did not prevent him from having many female friends. In his GCSE years his favourite subjects were maths, PE and Geography. Whilst no angel at school he certainly did have a big heart and was the class clown. He was happy all the time everyone around was happyand rarely spoke ill of anyone.

The day after Josh left school we went on holiday to Majorca with his best friend, Kia.  What a wonderful 2 weeks. When he returned he started work at MacDonalds. As always he made friends with everyone very quickly. He enjoyed his work so much and the people around him.

He also started a Public Services course at Chichester College, again making friends quickly and enjoying the discipline it commanded. he wanted to be a Royal Marine and excelled when it came to keeping busy, abiding to strict rules. He always respected his teachers, tutors and employers that laid down the rules. He never liked to have time to spare.

Driver was not looking as she struck boy's bike

From the archive, first published Wednesday 29th Mar 2006.

A saleswoman was not looking when she drove into the back of a moped killing the 16-year-old rider, an inquest heard.
Suzanne Simmons' "inattentiveness" caused the crash which killed Joshua Skinner on the flyover section of the A27 at Shoreham, said police crash investigator PC Simon Lane.
The inquest at Worthing Town Hall heard Mrs Simmons' Volkswagen Golf careered into the back of Joshua's 30mph Peugeot scooter as they both headed westbound just before 11pm on October 10 last year. Joshua, a student at Chichester College, was heading to his home in White Styles Road, Sompting, after a shift at McDonald's in Holmbush, where he had a part-time job.

In a statement read to the inquest by Inspector Mark Trimmer, Mrs Simmons said she was driving at 65 to 70mph when she was suddenly aware of something hitting her windscreen with a loud bang.  She said: "Initially I thought somebody had thrown something off a bridge and it had hit me." Mrs Simmons only realised it was a motorcyclist when she got out of the car and saw Joshua lying by the side of the road.
She said: "This accident has left me thoroughly distressed and I am greatly saddened by his death."

PC Lane said tests showed the moped's rear light was working and switched on at the point of collision. There were reflective strips at the back of the bike. He said: "Regardless of whether the lights were working, if Mrs Simmons was looking ahead then she would have seen the moped. "If the lights were off, the bike would have been in view for at least two seconds and, with the lights working, much longer. "Mrs Simmons was unlikely to be looking ahead, with her inattentiveness being the cause of the collision."

A post-mortem examination revealed Joshua died from massive head injuries. His crash helmet was thrown off by the force of the collision.
His mother Paula, 43, said she bought the bike from a police officer as a 16th birthday present. Although Joshua used the bike every day, he usually avoided the A27, sometimes using it if the traffic was light.
After the hearing, Insp Trimmer said no action had been taken against Mrs Simmons but she could face charges of driving without due care and attention.

West Sussex Coroner Roger Stone recorded a verdict of accidental death.