FRIENDS of the three young men who died in a head-on crash with a parked lorry in Westbury have been warned by a coroner to learn from the tragedy at an inquest today.

David Ridley, senior coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon, ruled that passengers Jordan Taylor and Nathan Cox, both 20 and from Trowbridge, and the 18-year-old driver Chad McVeigh, from Westbury, died as a result of head injuries they sustained on the evening of December 5 last year.

The silver Citroen Saxo they were travelling in collided with a parked articulated lorry on Quartermaster Road on the West Wilts Trading Estate last year. All three men were pronounced dead at the scene.

At the inquest, held at Salisbury Coroners Court, Mr Ridley concluded that the men, who had more than the legal limit of alcohol and cannabis in their system, failed to brake as they drove at speeds believed to be in excess of 70mph.

In response, he addressed the 20 friends of the men who attended the inquest. Mr Ridley said: “I do not want to preach to you but I would ask you learn from the loss of your friends and reflect on the effects their deaths have had on their families.

“Cars and motorbikes are dangerous and drink and drugs do not sit comfortably with driving. I want you to be safe and I want you to take into consideration your friends when you go out so that your families will not have to meet me in similar situations.”

In evidence read out today, it was stated that the silver Saxo was sold as seen to Chad just two days prior to the accident for £100.

In the hours leading up to the fatal crash, Wayne Newman, who is believed to be the last person to see the trio, said in a statement that the group had made plans to go to Club Ice from Nathan’s flat in Lambrok Road, Trowbridge.

He added: “While we were drinking, Jordan said should we go to Club Ice later for a friend’s birthday, which we all thought was a good idea.”

“We were all having a laugh and then Nathan, Jordan and Chad disappeared and it wasn’t until 10.30pm that we thought they weren’t coming back. It was when we left that I noticed Chad’s silver Saxo was gone from outside the flat. We all thought they had gone to check out Club Ice which they had done before.”

Further statements were read out by Mr Ridley from several drivers who passed the silver Saxo as the men made their way to the trading estate, all detailing the speed at which Chad drove the car.

Brian Reid, a heavy goods driver for Blue Line Logistics was overtaken by the men on Stephenson Road as he left Arla Dairy factory.

“I estimated that the car must have been going 70mph at least. As the car went around the right hand bend, I didn’t think he was going to make it and it looked like the driver had lost control,” he explained in a statement.

Mr Reid made his way up Quartermaster Road and was one of the first people on the scene.

He added: “The doors of the car were open and there was a man in the front who was still alive and trying to talk to me.”

It was confirmed that after emergency services arrived, Jordan died.

A report submitted to the coroner by vehicle examiners Michael Lailey and Kevin Fry stated that there were no defects on the HGV and the braking system on the Saxo was functioning. Mr Fry also added that despite the car having “a fair amount of corrosion” it would have not been a contributing factor to the crash.

Quartermaster Road was closed for seven hours on the night while emergency services, including the serious collision investigation team, attended.

Collision investigator sergeant Scott Hill, who gave evidence in Salisbury today, said: “In my opinion, the three men died as a result of the impotence of Chad who was unable to effectively process the information to stop the car in time.

“If the car was travelling at 30mph and Chad reacted to brake in the same way as he did then he would have stopped three metres short of the lorry and that is why speed is a factor of the collision.”

Toxicology reports provided by the pathologist revealed that Chad was found to be 1.4 times over the legal limit of alcohol and he was also found to have a substantial amount of cannabis in his system. Mr Ridley noted that despite this finding, pathology tests do not indicate when the drug entered his system.

Nathan was found to be 2.3 times over the legal limit of alcohol and did not have any traces of cannabis in his system, while front seat passenger Jordan was only found to have cannabis in his blood.

In conclusion, Mr Ridley said: “The presence of drink and drugs would have substantially affected Chad’s ability to control the car and the speed it was travelling would have been a factor in the collision. Chad was also an inexperienced driver and so that would have been a factor too.”