Final verdict into deaths of three men from London killed on the A2 between Canterbury and Faversham
A coroner has ruled a drink driver who was behind the wheel when he and two friends were killed was not excessively speeding - despite police saying he was.
Mohammed Muqtadir, Shahjahan Miah and Nicholas Rodney all died at the scene of an early-morning crash on the A2 when their Mercedes smashed into a parked lorry.
An inquest into the deaths of the three men in their 30s was last week told by police that they were travelling at about 125mph prior to the accident between Canterbury and Faversham.
But at the second part of the hearing - held today at Archbishop’s Palace in Maidstone - assistant coroner Katrina Hepburn said she was unsatisfied with the police figures.
The friends were returning to their home in London following a night on the beach at St Margaret’s Bay near Dover, where they had drunk alcohol and smoked cannabis.
The group of eight friends, who regularly went to Dover for nights on the beach, were split into two groups when travelling home in separate cars in January.
Police data - calculated following the triple fatality - revealed that the soon-to-be-married driver of the crashed car, Mr Muqtadir, was travelling between 120mph and 130mph. Officers also stated that video footage taken from inside the car just moments before the crash showed the speed dial to be at 125mph.
Witness accounts from drivers who had previously been overtaken by the Mercedes also said they thought the car was speeding. One lorry driver deemed the speed to be “excessive” and even as fast as 150mph.
But despite the evidence, coroner Ms Hepburn concluded it to be “incredibly difficult to assess speed”.
Instead, she ruled it probable that Tabriz Meah’s account of the series of events was correct.
Mr Meah, the driver of the second car carrying four of the eight friends, told the court that Mr Muqtadir was travelling at “about 80mph or so” when they came up to a convoy of three lorries.
He said: “Mohammed went to the right side lane to overtake and a lorry suddenly pulls out. It started moving across and then started indicating after.”
"He [Mohammed] was not anticipating that. He was braking but I thought ‘he’s not going to avoid the lorry in front’.
“I saw him go towards the left to avoid it but there was another lorry in that lane. He went further left and hit the one parked up which no one could see - debris was flying everywhere.”
Ms Hepburn said: “We have heard from a witness who was actually there and I find that much more likely.”
Mr Meah also raised concerns over the lighting of the lorry lay-by near Dunkirk on the A2.
Following the crash, a 35-year-old French lorry driver, who was asleep in the cabin of the parked HGV, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. But he was released without charge.
Mohammed Hanif, a passenger in the following car, said: "It was slightly wet and visibility was not the greatest.
“He had no chance of seeing the lorry parked there. I then heard a massive bang. The lorry that was involved should not have been parked there - there was more space in the lay-by.”
Toxicology reports for the three men who died revealed they had all been drinking and smoking cannabis before the accident at about 4am.
Driver Mr Muqtadir was found to have 97 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The UK drink-drive limit is 80mg.
All three died at the scene from multiple, severe injuries.
Ms Hepburn said:“Eight friends decided to go to Dover, this was a social event they had previously undertaken but this time ended in the most tragic of outcomes.”
She ruled the dual carriageway to be sufficiently illuminated and was satisfied the parked HGV was entirely off the road. She concluded that the alcohol and cannabis in Mr Muqtadir’s system could have caused impairment and affected coordination.
She ruled he had taken evasive action to avoid a HGV before ploughing straight into another.
