‘Beautiful’ Neve,12, died in 120mph fireball crash after booze and cocaine-fuelled ‘stepdad’ lost control

Neve Cotgrave-Hewitt, aged 12, and her mother’s partner, Scott Dennis Matthews, died when Mr Matthews lost control of his black Renault Clio on the A442, near Trench Lock in Telford, in the early hours of September 5 last year. The car went up a grass verge, ploughed through a tree and hit a bridge support, landing in the carriageway on its roof. Flammable liquid leaked and the car caught fire, going completely up in flames in “20 to 30 seconds”.

It happened just two days before Neve’s 13th birthday. It could have been a quadruple tragedy, had it not been for the heroics of a 16-year-old passenger, who kicked the glass out of one of the windows and pulled a 13-year-old boy to safety before the car burst into flames. An inquest into the two deaths was held at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, and heard evidence from statements provided by both surviving boys who were passengers in the car.

Family members of the victims of the crash were in attendance. The inquest was told that Burton Borough School pupil Neve and builder Mr Matthews, 36, travelled from their home in Newport to pick up the 13-year-old boy – Neve’s boyfriend who she had got together with a few days earlier. Mr Matthews then drove to a closed Shell garage in a failed attempt to pick up more alcohol, before going to Asda in Telford town centre to collect the 16-year-old boy, who was a friend of Neve’s.

They were going to have a sleepover.

Neve Cotgrave-Hewitt

Mr Matthews’ driving was said to be “relatively normal” until he hit the A442, when he started speeding. Both boys said Mr Matthews was driving at around 120mph, with the 16-year-old saying he “knew we were going to crash”. In an interview with police, the 16-year-old said he had known Neve for about a year, having met at McDonald’s in Newport as part of a group that would hang out there.

When he was picked up from Asda, the 16-year-old sat in the front – with Neve and the 13-year-old boy in the back. He said Mr Matthews was playing rock music at a “medium” level, and he could smell alcohol on him. Mr Matthews drove onto the A442 and was driving “quicker and quicker”, the 16-year-old said.

He estimated the speed was around 120mph, “certainly in excess of 100mph”. The crash happened at around 2am, and the boy “came to his senses” shortly after while the vehicle was upside down in the road. He said he could hear the 13-year-old boy shouting for help in the back.

He could see the car was steaming and could “smell burning”. He unclipped his seatbelt and tried to open the door but couldn’t. He then kicked the glass through and helped the 13-year-old boy out of the car.

Shortly after, the car went up in flames with Neve and Mr Matthews still inside.