AN inquest has been opened into the death of a teenager when his car was involved in a collision with a police car.
Karl John Harrison Sutcliffe died on Monday night last week after the Peugeot 309 he was driving collided with a marked BMW police patrol vehicle, on the A689 Coundon bypass, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham.
The unemployed 19-year-old, of Walker Drive, Woodhouse Close Estate, Bishop Auckland, was flung from the car and was pronounced dead at the scene by a police surgeon.
In a statement read out at yesterday's inquest, at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court, consultant pathologist Dr Peter Nigel Cooper stated that the cause of death was neck and chest injuries.
South West Durham and Darlington Coroner Colin Penna extended his deepest sympathies to Mr Sutcliffe's mother, Jacqueline Sutcliffe, before adjourning the inquest.
Immediately after the accident, Durham Police launched an investigation into the circumstances and passed details to the Police Complaints Authority, which approved Detective Chief Inspector Bruce Turnbull as the investigating officer.
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