AN Exeter man has died after falling from a city centre statue late at night.

Tom Callaway (18), was climbing the 15ft-high (4.5 metre) General Buller statue in Exeter on Saturday, June 10, when he fell and suffered serious neck and back injuries.

He was taken to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, where he died on Sunday morning.

Mr Callaway was described by a friend as "genuinely the funniest kid I knew".

The statue is a well-known landmark which depicts General Sir Redvers Buller VC, formerly of Downes House, Crediton, on horseback, mounted on a large granite plinth.

Devon and Cornwall Police were called to the statue at 11.40pm on Saturday.

Tom’s friend Will Squier said on “Facebook”: "I can’t believe that you’ve gone, at only 18 years-old as well.

"Never take life for granted people, live your life to the absolute fullest like this guy did."

General Buller was Commander-in-Chief of British forces in South Africa during the second Boer War.

The statue is situated on the route between the city centre and his home at Downes near Crediton and was put up in 1905.

Tom was with a number of friends and at the time of his fall he was attempting to place a traffic cone on the head of General Buller.

His friend Ozie Gilbert, who tried to put a cone on the statue just before Tom’s attempt, told “The Exeter Daily”: “I actually started to climb the statue first but I am not very courageous and so I decided ‘this is stupid’ and came down.

“But Tom was more of a daredevil and he went up.

“I saw him falling and then he was on the floor… we had been drinking and were being stupid. The last words he said to me were ‘I am coming down’.”

Ozie, who is also 18, added: “We called for an ambulance and stayed with Tom. He had a pulse but we lost it when the paramedics came. There was me and two of my mates and we just stood there crying.”

Looking at the dozens of flowers that have been laid at the scene, Ozie said: “Tom was such a great person.

“Despite what happened, I know he would have wanted us to be happy and remember him how he was. That’s the way he was.”

General Sir Redvers Henry Buller VC, GCB, GCMG (December 7, 1839 – June 2, 1908), was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He served as Commander-in-Chief of British forces in South Africa during the early months of the Second Boer War and subsequently commanded the army in Natal until his return to England in November 1900.

Three generations of Buller’s before him, had served as Member of Parliament for Exeter. The Buller family was particularly generous to both Exeter and Crediton, financing schools and hospitals among the contributions.

The grand statue at the junction of Hele Road and New North Road was unveiled on September 6, 1905, by the 3rd Earl Fortescue, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, with General Buller present, alongside his wife, Lady Audrey and daughter Georgina and thousands of people in attendance.

To raise funds for the statue, 50,000 people subscribed towards its creation.

Police said they were investigating the death of Tom Callaway but it was not being treated as suspicious, and that a file was being prepared for the coroner.

Alan Quick