Teenager was ‘driving at 80mph’ before fatal crash near Dursley

The inquest on Thursday heard how driver Matthew Millard’s VW Golf GTi left the road at Tait’s Hill hitting hit two trees on a tight right hand bend around 11pm on October 13 last year. Both Matthew, 18, and passenger Jake Rugman, 17, died at the scene while front seat passenger Naomi Maiden was injured. Gloucester Coroners Court heard that Mr Millard, of Manor Lane, Charfield, had taken the two friends out to demonstrate a modification.

Mr Rugman, of Woodlands Road, Charfield, died two days before his 18th birthday, the hearing was told. The inquest heard that the car had been modified in several ways included boosting the engine brake horse power to 307 – the same power category of advanced vehicles used by specialist police drivers. A police collision investigation report read at the inquest said: “The marks found at the scene indicated that the vehicle left the carriageway and crossed over a gravel layby and collided with two trees.

“If the account of the front seat passenger Naomi Maiden is accurate, her assumption about the speed Matt was driving at – allegedly 80mph – would account for why the vehicle left the road and the vehicle left the marks it did.” Members of the families of both teenagers were at the hearing. Ms Maiden stated: “On that evening I met up with Matt at about 6.30pm.

It was dry and I was driving my own car with Matt and Jake as passengers. I drove them to where Matt’s car was parked. “Matt then took us out in his car so that he could show us the ‘launch control’.

“I was sat in the front passenger seat and Jake was in the back. The system seemed to be working well, as he reached speeds of around 80mph on the A38. We then turned onto the B4066.

“Matt didn’t use the launch control again but he had his foot to the floor and was accelerating hard. I recall thinking we were travelling really fast. “I knew it was a 50mph limit and I felt this speed was too quick for the road.

I have driven this road hundreds of times and I believe Matt was exceeding this speed limit. “I would say that he was travelling around 80mph. I didn’t say anything.

But just before we left the road I had visions that we were going to crash. “On the approach to a tight right-hand bend we started to drift off the road and onto the grass verge on the left hand side. We left the road and entered a layby before colliding with a tree.

“The car ended up on its side. I was wearing my seatbelt, as was Matt. I cannot recall if Jake was wearing his seatbelt but he normally did.”

The investigator said a number of marks on the road surface indicated that the vehicle had been speeding and was travelling too fast to navigate the bend. There was no evidence of alcohol or drugs in Mr Millard’s system, the hearing was told. The medical cause of Mr Millard’s death was head injuries while Mr Rugman died from multiple injuries.

Assistant coroner for Gloucestershire Roland Wooderson offered his condolences to both families before reaching a conclusion of death by road traffic collision.