A ‘much loved’ young man died of multiple injuries after his car collided with a lamppost and then a casino on Scarborough seafront.
An inquest heard that William Patrick Dawson, 19, was fatally injured in the crash and died at the scene shortly after 1.30am on Sunday, 15 March, 2020.
Will, from Sherburn, between Malton and Scarborough, had only bought the Seat Ibiza he was driving a few days earlier. Two friends with him in the car suffered minor injuries in the collision.
The inquest, at Northallerton Coroners Court, heard that Will, who went to Norton College, was the youngest of three brothers.
In a statement read to the court by coroner Jonathan Leach, his brother said Will was “a very popular young man” who was “loved by many”.
“He was the life and soul of the party and also the person everybody went to when they were down.”
He started a gamekeeping apprenticeship at Bishop Burton College and was held in high regard by the farming community.
He passed his driving test in 2017, loved cars and was already an experienced driver because of his job. “As a family, to our knowledge, he didn’t drink and drive,” the statement said.
Close friend
Three hours before the crash, at 10.30pm on Saturday, 14 March, Will met with friends at the Bar2B at Harcourt Place, Scarborough.
At about 1.15am, Will invited Daniel Lancaster to see his 2006 Seat Ibiza which was parked outside the pub.
In a statement, Daniel said Will had offered to show him the sound of the car’s exhaust, which was modified to make a popping sound. They were joined by their friend Hannah Smith.
“As far as I was aware, we were only going to listen to it,” he said, adding that he knew Will had been drinking, “but he seemed fine in his demeanour and did not come across as drunk”.
Both he and Hannah sat in the front passenger seat while Will revved the engine.
In her statement Hannah Smith, from Pickering, said she had known Will for years, and had been in his car many times before. “Like most young men he drove too fast at times,” she said, adding he rarely wore his seatbelt.
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That night she got into the Seat because she was cold and wanted to be warmed up by the car’s heater. “I had absolutely no intention of going anywhere,” she said, adding that Will “couldn’t string a sentence together”.
While they were in the car she spoke on the phone to another friend who was on the Scarborough seafront. Will said he would drive down to meet her, Hannah said, adding that she urged him not to: “I said, please don’t drive Will, you’re not safe. And he replied, ‘I am’.”
He then set off. She said no one in the car had their seatbelt on. All she could recall of the collision “is being thrown around in the car”.
She said she was “devastated” by his death. “He was a close friend and I find it increasingly hard to come to terms with what’s happened.”
Travelling at 60mph
Daniel said he remembered Will driving “proper quick” and swerving towards kerbs. After the crash Daniel said he was “momentarily knocked unconscious”.
When he came round he saw there was no driver’s door and no one sitting in the driver’s seat.
The inquest heard from TC Paddy Green of North Yorkshire Police. He said the Seat Ibiza had driven along Foreshore Road where it headed north along the seafront towards Sandside.
Analysis of CCTV footage indicated that the Seat was travelling at around 60mph in a 30mph zone.
The car mounted a kerb and hit a lamppost. The driver’s door was torn off and the offside front wheel was smashed. It crossed the road, hit a metal post and span round, which is when Will was thrown from the driver’s seat.
It then collided with the Casino Royale building on Sandside. A paramedic confirmed Will had died at the scene at 1.33am.
PC Green found no defects in the vehicle or the road that could have caused or contributed to the crash. CCTV evidence showed no signs of third party involvement.
Members of Will’s family asked about a white Vauxhall Corsa with two men inside which was seen to be the first car on the scene after the crash. They raised concerns that Will might have believed it was an unmarked police car which caused him to accelerate away from the traffic lights on Foreshore Road.
TC Green said it wasn’t a police car, and there was no evidence of “racing” or “competitive driving”.
The family said there were inconsistencies in the statements and the CCTV footage surrounding the collision.
Dr David Scoones, a pathologist at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, carried out a post mortem on Will.
He said the cause of death was severe injuries to the head and cervical spine (neck).
A toxicology report found the level of alcohol in Will’s bloodstream was 175 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. That is more than double the drink drive limit of 80 milligrammes of alcohol.
There were no drugs in his system.
Mr Leach said it was clear that Will had a loving and supportive family and many friends, and was “a joy to all that met him”.
He recorded a conclusion of death from injuries sustained in a road traffic collision on Scarborough seafront. Mr Leach offered his condolences to the family.
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