Inquest hears of footballers' death crash

Driver Liam Cox had overtaken several cars when the collision occurred on a blind left-hand bend on the A2100 Hastings Road at Battle last October.

Their deaths stunned the local sports community and sparked a major fund-raising project in their memory.

Liam, of Hastings, had been giving goalkeeper James Duffell a lift home to Battle after football training when the car lost control and crashed into a Renault Espace.

The two young footballers died at the scene and the other driver needed hospital treatment.

Coroner Alan Craze said he hoped lessons could be learned after he heard how 20-year-old Liam's Ford Fiesta had smashed into the Renault being driven in the other direction.

Witnesses giving evidence at the Hastings inquest on Wednesday told how the Fiesta was being driven well above the 40mph speed limit at the time.

A forensic officer who was at the scene within an hour described it as a display of 'youthful exuberance'.

Two witnesses - including an off-duty policeman - said they had been overtaken at speed by the car on its way into Battle.

The Ford Fiesta had then tried to overtake a third car on a bend when it collided with the Renault heading towards Hastings

Road conditions were wet and some witnesses recalled having their windscreen wipers on.

The off-duty Hastings policeman who witnessed the crash said the car had been travelling well above the 40mph limit.

Christopher Stannard, who had been overtaken moments earlier, estimated its speed at about 70mph.

He said: "As the car overtook me I was quite alarmed by the standard of the driving so I took a positive look at the registration details.

"I had the intention of rounding the next corner and calling in the details because I was that appalled by the standard of driving."

Pathologist Dr Barnes from the Conquest Hospital in Hastings conducted the post mortem the day after the crash.

Neither of the boys had been drinking, but urine tests revealed a small amount of cannabis in Liam's system.

Coroner Alan Craze cited studies carried out in the 1990s which found a similar amount (50mcg per litre) could impair people's ability to perform tasks and operate machinery - though he said it tended to make them act more slowly.

How much the drug had affected Liam's driving could not be determined.

Lesley Burns, from St Leonards, was driving the car Liam overtook just before the bend. Mrs Burns, of Eisenhower Drive, had been heading to Robertsbridge with her daughter and a friend. She said the car overtook them so fast, they stopped mid-conversation.

"We all stopped in our tracks and made a comment about the speed," she said. "We saw the whole thing."

The car went into a spin - referred to by the forensic investigation officer as 'fishtailing' - as Liam tried desperately to regain control.

But the car hit John Divall's Renault on the other side of the road and finished in the offside hedge.

Mr Divall, of Clinton Crescent, St leonards, was driving away from the town, having just left the 30mph zone. He told the court there was nothing he could have done.

"Coming up the hill I saw some headlights and one set didn't appear to be in the right place," he said.

"I thought 'Where the hell can I go?' and there was nothing for me to do. I just shut my eyes and there was a collision."

Mr Divall was knocked unconscious and the front of his car destroyed by the impact.

PC Mariner, a forensic officer, said Liam had lost control of the car at the bend and it had been weaving across both lanes as he tried to slow down.

He said: "I am of the opinion that it would have necessitated a high speed to have lost control. This was a horrific incident possibly caused by youthful exuberance."

Hooe resident Brian Pont and his wife had been overtaken by the Fiesta on the Hastings Road shortly before PC Stannard, when they were driving home from their son's house in Westfield.

Mr Pont said he saw the Fiesta overtake the car in front on the left hand bend.

"It was really screaming as it overtook," he said. "It sounded like a two-stroke motorbike."

Coroner Alan Craze recorded a verdict of accidental death for both Liam and James.

He said: "This was a horrific road traffic crash from which two young men died almost instantly at the scene.

"The evidence leaves us in very little doubt as to what happened and as to how the accident came about.

"Our thoughts are with the family and the many friends of these two young men who lost their lives. We hope there are lessons to be learned."