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Clare death crash car 'travelling at 92mph'
A CAR which smashed into a bungalow, killing two young people and injuring two others, was probably travelling at 92mph in a 40mph zone, an inquest heard.
Driver Scott Bowles, 30, of Hertford Road , Clare and passenger Kay Fisher, 28, of Ipswich died when the car careered out of control in Stoke Road, Clare before ploughing into the home of an elderly couple.
The accident happened at around 9.30pm on Friday January 12 2001, after an evening's drinking the inquest heard.
Glenn Pearl, 23, of Highfields, Clare a passenger in the 2.5 litre V6 Vauxhall Cavalier, had started drinking soon after 5pm in the Bell Hotel on Clare's Market Hill. He met up with Mr Bowles later in the evening but was unable to tell the inquest how much his friend had drunk.
Mr Pearl, who sustained only minor injuries in the crash, was asked about the speed of the vehicle. He told the inquest "It was going quick but I could not tell you any specific speed".
The other passenger in the car was Mr Pearl's sister, Loiuse Jane Pearl from Stoke-by-Clare. She suffered a punctured lung and a broken right wrist, for which she is still receiving medical treatment.
Mr Bowles was found to have an alcohol level of 189mg in 100ml of blood, more than twice the legal limit of 80mg.
Pc Robert Pattison, an accident investigator with Suffolk Police, said that the marks left by the vehicle on the road indicated that it had been travelling at a speed of 92mph. The posted speed limit for the road on which the incident happened is 40mph.
Pc Pattison said that the car had become airborne twice after leaving Stoke Road, before cutting across two gardens and hitting a bungalow some six feet above ground level.
Owners of the bungalow Leonard Bareham, 73, and his wife Anne-Theresa, 72, described the crash as "a terrific bang, it was like a bomb going off".
Keven McCarthy, assistant deputy coroner of Greater Suffolk, while stressing that it was not his job to apportion blame, said he believed the incident was contributed to in part, if not substantially, by excessive speed and a high level of alcohol.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded.
Date : 19-07-2001
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