Speeding prison officer was three times the drink limit before fatal crash
A prison officer was travelling at 'motorway speeds' in a residential street while three times the drink-drive limit before crashing into a tree, a coroner heard.
Richie Nelson, aged 23, died in the crash which caused 'catastrophic damage' to his BMW 5 Series.
An inquest into his death heard he swerved to avoid a another car which had begun to pull out into Thimblemill Road, Smethwick.
He crossed onto the opposite side of the road, smashing into the tree, with the vehicle coming to rest in a nearby churchyard.
Four of his friends were also in the car at the time. Daniel Bogdanovic, 23, who was the front seat passenger, was badly hurt and left in a critical condition in hospital. He has since gone on to make a full recovery.
The others sitting in the back of the vehicle escaped with minor injuries. Senior coroner Zafar Saddique said it was remarkable they were not seriously hurt.
The group had been drinking in the Merrivale pub after returning from a christening earlier on September 20. Mr Nelson was found to have 239 milligrammes of alcohol in 100millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 microgrammes.
Investigators calculated Mr Nelson's BMW was travelling at between 70 and 80mph along the street which has a speed limit of 30mph prior to the crash just before 10.30pm.
The driver of the Vauxhall Zafira he swerved to avoid, Joanne Rowley, 46, said the vehicle was nowhere to be seen before she began to pull into the road. She said she then saw headlights approaching at speed, forcing her to stop.
PC Chris Ridge, a collision investigator from West Midlands Police, told the hearing: "It appears as the Vauxhall pulled out and the BMW reacted to its presence, swerved onto the other side of the road, and the driver lost control.
"The driver of the Vauxhall said when she began travelling out of the junction, the BMW wasn't in sight. She then saw fast-approaching headlights and acted as any other driver would. She described the BMW as tanking it.
"The damage to the BMW, which was catastrophic, was consistent with motorway speeds - 70 or 80mph. Had he been driving at the speed limit the collision simply wouldn't have occurred."
Detectives concluded Ms Rowley was faultless and the actions of Mr Nelson, who lived in Jackson Road, Smethwick, were solely to blame for the crash.
Mr Saddique recorded a verdict of death as a result of a road traffic collision.
