Adam Jones tragedy: Final moments of road death teen revealed

Adam Jones, aged 15, was crossing Walsall Road in West Bromwich in March 2015 when he was hit by a VW Bora. The driver ran off after the crash and has never been brought to justice.

Coroner Zafar Siddique concluded Baggies fan Adam, from Wednesbury, died by way of a road traffic collision at Black Country Coroner's Court yesterday.

Unemployed Tyrone Sadler, 25, of Smethwick, had been charged with causing death by driving a vehicle while uninsured.

But the case against him collapsed due to a lack of evidence at the end of last year.

Sergeant Paul Hughes, the senior police officer in the case, told the coroner that a bank card in Mr Sadler’s name and a coat with his DNA were found in the Bora at the scene of the crash.

And Mr Sadler appeared at the Black Country Coroner's Court to give evidence. But he refused to answer questions from the coroner or a lawyer representing Adam’s family, other than to confirm his identity.

Nigel Power, Forensic Collision Investigator at West Midlands Police, today told a coroner the car’s driver would have had less than a second to avoid Adam.

This was because it had been behind a silver Ford Focus which swerved to avoid Adam.

Mr Power, said: “It is most likely that the Bora would have been travelling in lane two [nearest the kerb].

“As the Ford Focus braked and swerved only then would the bike have come into view of the Bora. If it was travelling at 40mph, and had been three to four car lengths back from the Focus as stated by its driver, the bike is likely to have been between 12m (39ft) and 16m (52ft) in front of the Bora.

“That would have given the driver between 0.67 seconds and 0.89 seconds to prevent the impact.”

Mr Power explained that damage to the car was consistent with it having been travelling at 40mph, which is the road’s speed-limit.

He added he could 'categorically state' Adam was doing a ‘wheelie’ when he was hit near the junction with Beacon View Road. He concluded the driver of the Bora would have had insufficient time to avoid Adam who was propelled through the windscreen, leaving him with catastrophic injuries from which he died at the scene. It is not know who was driving the Bora when the crash took place on March 26, 2015, at 7.39pm.

Adam’s friend, Matthew Cheesborough, 26, told the hearing he was standing on a nearby petrol forecourt when he heard the collision and ran over to find Adam injured.

Shahram Mahmood, who had been driving the Focus, told how he swerved to the left to avoid Adam, hitting the kerb, before coming to a stop further down the road.

He said: “I saw the driver open the door. He opened the door, looked, and then ran.”

His devastated mother and father, Mandy Ruston and Mark Jones, from Friar Park, Wednesbury, led a campaign to find who caused her son’s death, vowing never to give up until the person responsible was behind bars.

It was a fight backed by Adam’s beloved West Bromwich Albion, with goalkeeper Ben Foster issuing an appeal for information on behalf of the club and messages shown to thousands of fans on the big screen at The Hawthorns.

In an interview with the Express & Star last year, Ms Ruston said: “Our lives totally changed in a split second. One minute we were a happy, bubbly family. Adam had everything to live for. Ten minutes after he left the house we had nothing.

“Everything stopped for us that evening.”

Adam’s mother and father were not present at the inquest.