Passenger stole taxi he was in then died after crashing it
A man stole a taxi he was a passenger in, then crashed it and died, an inquest heard yesterday.
Kian Collier, 22, of Old Colwyn, Conwy, North Wales was nearly three times over the drink drive limit when he got behind the wheel of the vehicle in the early hours of October 28 last year.
He had been a passenger in the taxi, a white Hyundai Ioniq, when he took the car without the driver’s consent, the coroner’s court in Ruthin, Denbighshire, was told.
Mr Collier then crashed the car on the eastbound carriageway of the A55, in Dwygyfylchi, Conwy, sustained multiple injuries and died.
He was not wearing a seatbelt.
Bangor taxi firm Premier Group have previously confirmed the vehicle was stolen from them.
Gordon Saynor, a forensic collision investigator with North Wales Police, said Mr Collier had been travelling well over the 30mph, the BBC reported.
A pathologist found 224mg per litre of alcohol in his blood, the legal driving limit being 80mg per litre.
Kate Robertson, assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central, concludedthat Mr Collier died as a result of a road traffic collision.
She said: ‘To lose somebody in such circumstances is incredibly tragic.’
In a tribute his family described him as a ‘shy lad’ who ‘excelled in all sports’.
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