Teen drove at about 90mph before fatal river crash

2 hours ago

Mousumi Bakshi,in Huntingdonand

Helen Burchell

News image — Declan Berry had been reported missing after the river crash on 17 March

Cambridgeshire Police Declan Berry looks into the camera and has dark wavy hair and is wearing a black polo shirt — Declan Berry had been reported missing after the river crash on 17 March

A teenage driver who died along with a passenger when his car plunged into a river had been speeding at about 90mph (145km/h) moments before the crash, an inquest heard.

Declan Berry, 18, had been driving four friends along North Brink on 17 March when his VW Polo entered the River Nene near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. His body was recovered two weeks later.

At an inquest into his death, coroner Elizabeth Gray concluded he died as a result of drowning and that the "unsatisfactory" state of the road had contributed to the crash.

Three passengers survived and, via a statement read in court in Huntingdon, one of them said Berry had been driving at about 90mph moments before the incident, and when he asked him to "slow down", Berry replied "we will be fine".

The speed limit on that stretch of North Brink is 60mph. The inquest heard he may have hit a pothole which contributed to the crash.

The 18-year-old, who was the front seat passenger, said the group of five friends in the car had been at a gym and then visited a McDonald's before the crash.

He said Berry had been speaking about making modifications to his car, and the friend told the hearing he thought that Berry "intended to show off" that evening.

Qays Najm/BBC An aerial image of the A47 running next to the river, with North Brink on the other side. The area is mainly rural with a few houses and industrial buildings in clusters. — The car plunged into the River Nene, near Wisbech, on 17 March

Another passenger recalled hearing "a thud" which she thought might have been a pothole.

She heard Berry swearing before the car hit the grass bank.

The atmosphere inside the car was described by the other female passenger as "eerie".

The car entered the water at North Brink at about 20:20 GMT.

More stories from Cambridgeshire:

Three of the passengers - an 18-year-old man and two 16-year-old girls - survived.

Divers recovered the body of 16-year-old Eden Bunn, believed to have been a rear-seat passenger, at about 15:00 on 18 March.

An inquest into her death is expected to take place on Tuesday.

The body of Berry was found in the river on 31 March.

Mousumi Bakshi/BBC Three police officers are spread out and standing on the side of a river bank. There are two cones on the left and specialist equipment on the grass. A diver is in the water. — Cambridgeshire Police and divers conducted searches for Berry after the incident

In written evidence read at the inquest, nearby resident Thomas Bilverstone, who had been at home at the time of the incident, said he heard "a loud impact" and saw the car "rolling through the air".

He heard "multiple people screaming" and called emergency services before rushing to help the survivors, one of whom was "clinging to vegetation".

The coroner revealed Berry had three penalty points on his licence for speeding, and that police reports noted the condition of the road had also partially played a part in the incident.

A forensic report filed in the aftermath of the crash concluded Berry had likely hit a pothole after the car "negotiated a right-hand bend", but "no mechanical defect contributed to loss of control".

Closing the inquest, Gray said Berry had been "driving at an excessive and inappropriate speed", with the "unsatisfactory condition of the road more than minimally contributing" to the crash.