The identity of the driver in a fatal collision that killed a 42-year-old mother may never be known, an inquest has heard.
Despite an ongoing investigation by Humberside Police, it remains unclear whether Lawrence James, 21, Samuel Connors, 19, or William Harty, 20, were driving the BMW 140i when it became involved in a high-speed police chase reaching speeds of up to 130mph.
The vehicle entered the A63 via a slip road, travelling in the wrong direction at around 9.48pm on 22 November 2021. Witnesses estimated the car’s speed at around 120mph before it collided with Alison Clark’s Peugeot, Hull Live reports.
LEARN MORE: “I tried the fry-up at the “magnificent” restaurant in Greater Manchester, considered one of the best in the region”
Andrew Cross, a forensic collision investigator, said the BMW would have taken 39 seconds to travel the 2km of bad road before the head-on collision. Two of the Leeds men were ejected from the vehicle and found on the road by passers-by and police paramedics.
Two of the Leeds men were ejected from the vehicle and found on the road by passers-by and police paramedics. One of them, Lawrence James, was found hanging out of the passenger window. Paramedics attempted to resuscitate him, but all three died after the crash.
The victims were all moved off the road because the BMW burst into flames and rescuers moved the bodies. Serious collision investigator Sally Acomb told the inquest into the deaths of the four people that it had not been possible to establish which of the three men was driving the BMW.
She said all three men had their clothes removed when they received medical treatment. The officer, who has 30 years’ experience and is now retired, told the jury at the inquest: “The families want to know what happened. We are doing our best to provide answers.” She added: “This is an ongoing investigation that we are looking at.”
Alison Clark’s family lawyer asked Ms Acomb: “You have not conducted any investigation that might lead to the identification of the driver?” She replied: “No, I do not agree with that.”
The senior officer said he had reviewed all witness statements from those who had seen the suspect car earlier in the evening involved in the theft of catalytic converters.
A total of six catalytic converters were found on the car by police following the collision. They had been stolen from vehicles parked in the Hull area.
Constable Sarah-Jayne Dewhurst showed the jury some of the men’s clothing. Earlier in the inquest, witness Liam Green had described how he saw a man get out of the white BMW on the driver’s side and he was dressed in dark clothing. He was seen returning to the driver’s side but it was not possible to determine whether he returned to the driver’s seat of the three-door saloon.
Andrew Cross, the crash investigator, said the collision happened 37 metres from the slip road to the BP petrol station on the A63 near North Ferriby. Due to the intensity of the fire in the BMW, it was not possible to use its electronic control unit to determine how fast it was travelling at the time of impact.
He said the collision was directly related to the BMW contravening the no entry sign on the A63 slip road and driving in the wrong direction along the carriageway and colliding head-on with the Peugeot which was driving correctly on the right hand side of the carriageway.
The investigation is continuing.
