A young man died days before his baby was born when he lost control of his car on a bend and crashed into a tree, an inquest has heard.
Twenty-year-old Leighton Mileson died in hospital on March 1, a day after his silver Ford Fiesta left the road hitting the large tree on Burdon Lane in Houghton-le-Spring, near the A690.
An inquest at Sunderland Coroners’ Court on Thursday (June 13) was told he had been driving with his 16-year-old cousin as a passenger, going to meet with his pregnant partner on the evening of February 29 when they “didn’t show”.
Leighton’s dad tried to contact him and got no answer, the court was told.
Police were called at 10.20pm where the car had hit the tree on the front driver’s side. Leighton, from Sunderland, was found to have suffered serious injuries, and both he and his cousin were taken to hospital.
He tragically died at 12.28pm the next day.
A post-mortem examination carried out at the RVI in Newcastle found he sustained serious head, chest and abdominal injuries.
He had not been drinking or taken any drugs, toxicology reports said. Ketamine in his system had been given to him by paramedics who fought to save him at the scene, the inquest heard.
Police examined his phone and found “no suggestion that [it] was, or had been, in use” before the crash.
In a statement crash investigator PC Featherstone said it was his opinion the collision happened “as a result of the speed at which Mr Mileson attempted to take the left-hand bend, coupled with his inexperience and under-inflated rear tyres” which caused him to “lose control of the vehicle”.
Assistant Coroner David Place concluded he died of a road traffic collision.
The coroner said: “I am able to conclude that Leighton Mileson died from serious head injuries caused in a motor collision while driving at Burdon Lane.
“It’s clearly a tragic accident for a young inexperienced driver who, according to the police, has been driving at speed and due to under-inflation of the tyres has ultimately lost control and collided with a tree.”
Leighton’s family previously paid tribute to their “beautiful” son who was days away from meeting his unborn baby.
They said: “We are absolutely devastated and shocked at the loss of our beautiful lad Leighton.
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He always had a smile that lit up any room he walked in and did not have a bad bone in his body.
“He was loved by so many and what hurts the most is that he was just days away from being a dad.
“We are all destroyed, but the memories we have will be cherished forever. Love you always.”
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