The family of a teenager killed in a police chase have released new pictures of their beloved son.
Kelvin Bainbridge died on October 18, 2019, after a jumping from his car and being hit by a police car at the end of a six-minute pursuit.
The teenager was on his way home from a 20-week baby scan when he was “ecstatic” to learn he was due to have a baby boy. But he was wanted by police and disqualified from driving at the time when an off-duty officer spotted him.
Read more: Teenager killed in police chase thought officer driving wanted to kill him, dad says
An inquest into his death is ongoing this week. It heard Kelvin died of blunt head injuries when the police car hit him in Middlestone Moor in Spennymoor in 2019.
His family have today released new pictures of their son, who they described as a “playful” boy who loved sport.
His father Troy, pictured, said of his son: “From when he was a bairn Kelvin was happy and loving. As he grew up he was playful and he would laugh all the time.
“As a boy Kelvin was very high energy, high octane. He was a typical little boy who loved a bit of rough and tumble play.
“He was always out on his bike or out playing football – he learned to ride a bike when he was just two.
“I borrowed some money to get him a little motorbike and took him to Hardwick to ride. He would go over all the jumps and I’d have my heart in my mouth watching him.
“I took him and his sister Kelsey to judo lessons – they were that good I would enter them into competitions, I still have a picture where he won a badge for his judo in January 2008.”
The pair would also go on long bike rides together, go to the gym, and Troy helped coach his football team Kelvin was at school.
Troy proudly carried a mock-up judo magazine cover featuring his son to Crook Coroners Court this week.
He added: “When Kelvin got older he started to get angry very easily, I thought this was down to his hormones but he started to hand around with other boys who were up to no good.
“I tried to speak to him about why he was getting into trouble.”
The court heard Kelvin became involved in crime from his teens and was convicted of 45 criminal offences including burglary, GBH and drug offences. He was described as one of the most wanted men in the Spennymoor area before his death in 2019.
He had found a partner and found out she was pregnant with his baby.
“One day I could see he had been crying,” Troy added, “I asked what was wrong and he started to open up to me about how he was feeling. He said he had been easily led and didn’t know how to get himself out of trouble.
Read next:
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Mum reveals son's final words before crash which took his life
- Cop driving police car which struck teen in fatal crash 'could not have stopped'
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Distressing moment teen hit by police car in fatal crash captured in dashcam footage
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“He might and should have gone to prison and should also have had the chance to come out and live his life again.
“He would have been motivated to change.
“I know that this could and should have ended differently and he should be with us all right now.”
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