Death driver had been drinking

The young teenage driver who was killed in a horror smash near Wolverhampton along with his close friend was over the alcohol limit and driving at excessive speeds, an inquest heard.

Stephen Millman and Daniel Powell, both 18, died instantly of head injuries in the crash, but their bodies lay at the scene for up to nine hours before being discovered.

Stephen had been behind the wheel of his blue Citroen Saxo driving from the A5 towards four Ashes, before losing control in Station Road.

After travelling over a canal bridge and around a bend, the car clipped a kerb before careering through trees, clipping a telegraph pole, travelling through the air and smashing into a building.

It is believed the crash took place at around 12.30am on May 17 last year Workers from Velio Environmental Services, which uses the building as an office, discovered the mangled wreckage of the car just after 9am.

A night security guard at the company claimed he went to investigate a "thud" in the early hours but did not find the car.

Daniel's parents, Denise and Stuart, discovered their son had been killed when they stumbled across the mangled wreckage of the car after going out looking for him when he failed to return home for the night.

Stephen and Daniel, both from Featherstone, had been following a car driven by friend Richard Billingham along the road, but just "disappeared".

Mr Billingham told the inquest: "I looked in my mirror one time and they were there and then I looked again five or ten seconds later and they weren't. I thought they had taken another turning off the road."

A toxicology report showed that Stephen had an alcohol reading of 86mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood – the legal limit is 80mg.

And Pc Simon Marshall, a crash collision officer, said that although it was impossible to work out the exact speed the car was travelling at, it must have been "excessive".

Pc Richard Gathergood said if Stephen had survived the crash it was likely he would have been prosecuted for causing death by driving without due care and attention and under the influence of alcohol.

South Staffs coroner Andrew Haigh said: "The main reason for this collision was speed."

He recorded verdicts that Stephen died due to an accident and Daniel died as a result of unlawful killing.