Leeds crash: Coroner's warning after 'calamitous' Horsforth smash
A coroner has warned of the dangers of drink-driving after a "calamitous tragedy" in which four young men died in a car crash following a party.
Caelan Megson, 21, Brandon Frew, 19, Declan Grove, 19, and Matt Walshaw, 18 died on the Leeds outer ring road when their car crashed with a taxi. They all came from the Horsforth area of the city. An inquest at Wakefield Coroners' Court heard all four had been drinking before the crash in June 2018. One witness described how Mr Megson, who was driving the Seat Leon, had been drunkenly dancing around with his T-shirt off hours before the crash. A toxicology report found he was around two-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit and had cocaine in his system when the car crashed on the A6120 Leeds Outer Ring Road, near the junction with Bank Gardens in Horsforth. Two girls, aged 16 and 17 at the time, were passengers in the car and were left with serious injuries. The six-strong group had been heading to a McDonald's and aiming to go on to Mr Frew's house in Leeds when the crash happened. A forensic collision investigator said it was estimated the car had been travelling at around 82mph in a 40mph zone, with witnesses saying it drifted on to the wrong side of the road on a blind corner and hit the other vehicle. Recording a conclusion that the four men died in a road traffic collision, coroner Kevin McLoughlin said the young people "should not have been in a car with a driver who had drunk significant alcohol". He added: "I would ask that every driving instructor in this area cuts out the media coverage reporting this calamitous tragedy and makes their students read it." Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.