Father killed after hitting wall at twice the speed limit on Christmas Eve 'had been drinking and smoking cannabis'

A father-of-one who died on Christmas Eve when the car he was driving hit a wall had been smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol before getting behind the wheel, an inquest heard.

Karl Green, aged 34, and passenger Andrew Wheeler, 28, who also died in the crash, were travelling at double the speed limit when they hit a wall in Brettell Lane, Brierley Hill, at midnight on December 24 last year.

Unemployed Mr Green, of Marine Crescent, Wordsley, Stourbridge, had 98 milligrams of alcohol in his blood, as well as 3.1 milligrams of cannabis.

Mr Wheeler, who was also unemployed, had 202 milligrams of alcohol in his system. The legal limit is 80 milligrams for alcohol.

Mr Green, 34, died alongside 28-year-old passenger Andrew Wheeler

The inquest heard how they had been to a friend's house where they had been drinking and then they started arguing before they left to head back home.

Mr Green, who had a provisional driving licence and no insurance on his blue Citroen ZX, hit the kerb and mounted the pavement before hitting a wall next to a nail salon.

Extensive damage was caused to the car in the smash

They were spotted by another driver, Thomas Matthews, and his girlfriend Kirsty Adams who called for the ambulance after seeing smoke coming from the car.

Mr Green was still alive when he was discovered, though Mr Matthews was unable to find a pulse on Mr Wheeler, of Audnam, Stourbridge.

Zafar Siddique, lead coroner for the Black Country, said: "There was catastrophic damage to the car, through a totally devastating impact."

The family of the men were shown photographs of the vehicle after the crash at the inquest at Smethwick Council House yesterday.

Mr Wheeler's brother Jonathan Wheeler said: "If the crash could do that to a car, imagine what it can do to the human body."

Pc Katrina Hall confirmed that by examining CCTV from a nearby chip shop, they could work out that the car was travelling almost double the 30mph speed limit at the time of the crash.

Mr Wheeler's sister Rebecca Wheeler said that her partner, a mechanic, had examined the car prior to the incident and advised Mr Green not to drive.

There was no suggestion anything was wrong with the car after the crash when the police carried out checks.

Before getting into the car, it is believed Mr Green and Mr Wheeler were arguing about whether Mr Green's young daughter Immie should be allowed to travel in the car the next day.

Both men suffered multiple serious injuries in the crash.

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Mr Siddique said that a toxicology report revealed that the amount of cannabis in Mr Green's system indicated there was a high possibility he smoked the substance 'recently' before driving.

He confirmed that the affects of cannabis on driving is slower reaction times, distorting the perception of space and time.

He concluded that death was caused by way of a road traffic collision, adding: "It is an absolute tragedy for both families."

At the inquest, Rebecca said: "Andy was just the best big brother and best friend in the world. Christmas will never be the same again."

Johnathan Wheeler said his sibling was 'very much a family man' and was always the first to lend a hand.

Last month the family of Mr Green set up a fundraising page so they could give him 'the best send off possible'.

They wanted to raise £2,000 on a GoFundMe page which they did.