Teenager died in horror crash after driving at more than 80mph

Ryan Wainwright had been at a party before he lost control of his father’s BMW on Clarence Street, Upper Gornal, at about 2am on May 19.

The teenager, of Springfield Grove, Sedgley, was travelling at 72mph when he collided with the kerb – flipping the car onto its roof, his inquest heard.

He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after suffering serious head injuries but pronounced dead on May 22.

The hearing at Black Country Coroners Court was told a toxicology test found Mr Wainwright was slightly over the drink drive limit – 118 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.

Two male passengers and a female passenger were all taken to hospital but suffered less serious injuries in the crash.

Pc Justin Williams, a collision investigator for the Central Motorway Police Group, said: “At 2.01am on May 19, there was a serious injuries collision involving a BMW along Clarence Street – a single carriageway road connecting Sedgley and Dudley.

“The vehicle was travelling at excessive speed from the direction of Dudley.

“From CCTV evidence at a premises about 250m from the collision, the car was travelling between 85 and 88 mph.

“An Italian restaurant had CCTV covering the road and at the point the car hit the curb the car was doing about 72mph.

“The car lost control just before it hit the kerb. The footage shows the brake lights were on. Once it struck the kerb it started going over the pavement, through a car park attached to the restaurant. The car collided with a wooden fence and various street furniture.”

Mr Wainwright worked in an RAC call centre and had passed his test less than a year before the crash.

His mother Marie Beddow paid an emotional tribute to her ‘wonderful’ son. “He was wonderful, loving caring, considerate,” she told the court.

“He loved his family and friends. He loved his life and was very popular. He loved cars and that was his passion. He liked his expensive designer clothes too. Everybody loved him.”

The cause of death given was brain injury.

Senior Coroner Zafar Siddique gave a conclusion of a road traffic collision and gave his ‘deepest condolences’ to the family. He said: “He was involved in a high velocity collision, travelling at excessive speed when he lost control of his father’s BMW.

“His inexperience as a new driver, his speed and evidence he had been socialising contributed to his death.

“I offer my deepest condolences. I can’t imagine what the family have been and are still going through.”