Car crash driver was twice drink drive limit THE driver of a car that crashed into a tree killing himself and a friend was double the legal drink-drive limit, an inquest heard.

Brett Richardson, 27, got behind the wheel of his high performance Subaru Impreza with friends Steven Richie, 24, and Darren Humphrey, 21, after they had been at a party together.

Mr Humphrey, who was the back seat passenger and the only one to survive the crash, described how the conversation at his wife’s birthday party turned to cars.

He told Southampton Coroner’s Court how the trio then moved to the garden of the property at Calshot Close with a view to looking at the Subaru.

“I don’t know how, we just ended up in the car,” he said.

Mr Humphrey said that he had no recollection of the crash that left him with a broken vertebra in his back and a broken wrist and claimed the lives of Mr Richardson, of Mansfield Road, Gosport, and front seat passenger Mr Richie, of Marchwood Military Port. Both the men were members of the armed forces.

The court also heard statements from people who were at the party on the evening of June 6 last year, including Mr Richardson’s girlfriend Natasha Swaine who described her worry when the three men did not return. “I had a horrible feeling inside, “she said.

Another party guest said that none of the men had been in a fit state to drive.

A post-mortem found both men died from multiple injuries. Tests on Mr Richardson, who had a daughter, revealed a reading of 164mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, twice the legal drink-drive limit of 80mg. Mr Richie was also found to have a similar amount of alcohol in his blood.

The court also heard from police officers who were on a routine patrol in the Blackfield area when they saw a Subaru pulling out of a junction and speeding off.

PC Mark Owsnett said the car was driven away at such speed that within seconds it was out of sight. After initially deciding to follow the car he said they realised the car had disappeared.

The next time the officers saw the car it was on its roof in Lepe Road, Langley, after hitting a tree near a junction that would have taken them back to the party. The inquest was expected to be concluded today.