Popular young Marlborough resident Max Pearson died when his car hit a tree after he drove in wet conditions at speeds of up to 80mph along the Grand Avenue through the Savernake Forest.
Drugs and a small amount of alcohol found in his system were a contributing factor in the accident, Wiltshire’s assistant coroner said today (Tuesday).
The inquest in Salisbury heard that despite feeling unwell, 21-year-old Mr Pearson was ferrying revellers from a party in the forest to an address in Marlborough in the early hours of Sunday, November 23 last year in his silver Renault Clio when the incident occurred.
Evidence suggested that the well-liked former St John’s School pupil was not wearing a seatbelt, and one witness told the court she saw the speedometer reach 80mph on the straight but undulating private road, which has an advisory speed limit of just 15mph.
Both Natasha Laurie and Emily Rodriguez-Martin told the court that they had driven with Mr Pearson before, and had no concerns about his driving style.
The inquest heard from Natasha Laurie, who had travelled with Max and another friend to the underground dance music venue The Black Swan in Bristol on the night of the accident.
They had stayed at the club from 10pm until around 3am, and were driving back to Marlborough when Miss Laurie received a call from her friend Sam Parrington asking for a lift home for him and his friends from their party in the forest.
She said they had left the club early because Mr Pearson was complaining of feeling ill. She had not seen him take drugs, and that he only consumed soft drinks.
“He wouldn’t drink and drive. He was very against drinking and driving. He had a Coke,” she told the inquest.
Assistant coroner Ian Singleton asked her: “We will hear later that there was a level of cocaine and ketamine. Did you see him take drugs?”
“Not that night.”
“There is reference to Max inhaling helium [in the forest]. Were you aware of that?”
“Maybe once. It was only one.”
A witness statement from Michael Edwards heard that around 20 people had headed into the forest for a party at around 11pm.
They had taken speakers, a generator, and beer into the forest so as not to create a noise nuisance.
“After about half an hour it started to rain hard. We wanted to go back. One of the group phoned Max to pick them up.”
“He didn’t stop for a drink. He wasn’t showing off. His driving was normal,” said Mr Edwards.
“We unloaded the [speakers from the] car. I said ‘see you later’ and we waited for the others – but they didn’t turn up.”
Mr Pearson made at least two trips between the party site and Marlborough before returning for the final four party-goers, the inquest heard.
A written statement from Mr Parrington, who was a front seat passenger when the accident occurred, was read to the court.
“I put my seatbelt on. The road was straight, but bumpy,” he said.”[Mr Pearson} pulled away hard, causing the tyres to spin, going through the gears. He got to 60 or 70 miles per hour.
“He started to lose control and skidded sideways. I said ‘No Max’ and the next thing I knew, I woke up in hospital on the Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Louie Lamb was a back seat passenger in the car, along with Archie Tuxford and Emily Rodriguez-Martin.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Lamb said: “I remember swerving before the crash. I woke up outside the vehicle with Archie next to me. I called an ambulance.
“Me and Archie went to the car to get Emily out. Sam and Max were unresponsive. Max never woke up.”
Miss Rodriguez-Martin told the court “All I remember was he was going quite fast.”
“You looked at the speedometer,” said the coroner. “Do you recall how fast he was going?”
“About 80mph.”
“And did anyone say anything?”
“No.”
Asked about the moments before the accident, Miss Rodriguez-Martin told the coroner: “The road went up and down. The car hit the ground as it went back up.”
Seeking clarification, the deputy coroner asked “The car left the ground, then hit the ground. And that’s when it all started to go wrong?”
“Yes. I lost consciousness. I came round and Louie and Archie were out of the car.”
A statement taken by police officer Annabel Martin-Mulholland from Mr Tuxford a few days after the accident was also read to the court.
In his statement, Mr Tuxford said Mr Pearson that Mr Pearson was was “fed up, not angry” and felt his driving was of someone who wanted to go home, but added that at the time of the accident he was “driving too fast and lost control.”
“I looked at the speedometer at 50mph and he [Mr Pearson] continued to accelerate. Things happened quickly. There was no time to brake – I don’t believe [Mr Pearson] broke at all.
“We span one way, then the other, hitting a number of trees.”
Police vehicle inspector Stephen Fair examined the Renault Clio on December 2. He found “very extensive damage” to the vehicle, but no defects that would have contributed to the accident. The headlights were in the dipped position, and no friction marks to the driver’s seatbelt were found – suggesting that Mr Pearson was not wearing one at the time of impact.
Dr Lawrence John, who conducted the postmortem, found ‘no obvious seatbelt marks’ on Mr Pearson. A toxicology report, he said, found levels of ketamine and cocaine in Mr Pearson’s urine; and ketamine, cocaine, and 19 milligrammes of alcohol – less than the drink-drive limit of 80 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres – in his blood.
The alcohol levels, he suggested, were not enough to cause impairment. The drug findings suggested recent use, and could have impaired Mr Pearson’s ability to drive safely.
Police collision investigator Andrew Grigg attended the scene at 7.15am on the morning of the accident – around 90 minutes after the incident had been reported to the police.
He found the road to be “well maintained” but “wet, and covered in leaves”. The accident would have happened in darkness, he told the court.
PC Grigg told the inquest that although the road is straight, it is undulating, and there was a “significant dip” before the scene of the accident that “would not be immediately apparent” to the driver.
By studying the tyre marks, PC Grigg told the court he was able to conclude that the car was travelling at 72mph when the incident occurred.
The dipped beam range of Mr Pearson’s headlights would have been between 20 and 25 metres. At 72 mph he would be covering 32 metres every second. “He was outdriving his headlamps at that point,” said PC Grigg. “He may not have been able to see the direction of the road as he came over the brow [of the dip].”
He said the evidence pointed to the car leaving the dip, and swerving to the right because of the camber of the road. “Probably fearing he would hit the trees on his right, he applied left hand steering, but he’s gone too far the other way. He was unable to retrieve the situation due to the speed.”
The car span before hitting one tree and coming to rest against another, facing the opposite way from the direction of travel, he said.
PC Grigg added: “The presence of alcohol and drugs may have effected his decision-making and ability to control the vehicle.”
In conclusion, Mr Singleton said: “Max had been out to Bristol with friends, and on the way home he was phoned and asked to take a number of people home.
“The first two trips from the Savernake Forest were unremarkable. On the final journey his speed along the road was excessive.
“His driving ability was effected by the consumption of alcohol, cocaine and ketamine some time before the accident. He lost control and hit a tree.”
He recorded a conclusion of death by road traffic collision.
Mr Pearson, formerly a St John’s Academy pupil, enjoyed music and, before a fractured collarbone, excelled at rugby.
In a statement issued through Wiltshire Police back in November, the family wrote: “Max was a warm hearted, sensitive man who was popular, evident by his many friends. He was always thoughtful and kind with a beaming smile and cheeky sense of humour.
“Being an only child, Max made himself a large circle of friends. This was a big part of his life and since he has gone it is evident just how popular and well regarded he was, which is a real comfort to us.”
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