A BIG Issue seller killed when he crashed his mother's car near Harrogate had drunk two-and-a-half times the legal limit of alcohol and was using methadone to control his drug addiction, an inquest heard yesterday.
Stewart Michael Waddington, 32, who sold the magazine outside Marks and Spencer in Harrogate, had taken his mother's Vauxhall Astra estate car without consent from her Ripon home on May 13.
Traffic Constable David Foster said no other vehicle was
involved in the crash, which happened on the A61 at Brearton, near Harrogate. The car was seen overturned on a disused railway line by a passing lorry driver.
The collision investigator said the car was travelling towards Harrogate when Mr Waddington lost control at about 68mph, collided with the offside verge and then swung back across the road, mounted the nearside verge and hit the end of a wall with the driver's door.
The Coroner for the Western District of North Yorkshire, Geoff Fell, said there had been five incidents on the stretch of road near the crash site.
He asked TC Foster if there was anything wrong that he needed to contact the highway authority about. TC Foster replied. "Categorically no. Those bends can be negotiated at 60mph."
Mr Fell read a statement from Mr Waddington's mother Joan, who said he began using drugs when he was 14 and spent time in Northallerton Young Offenders' Institution for driving offences after being discharged from the Army for glue sniffing.
Mr Waddington had also been to prison, mainly for shoplifting to fund his drug abuse
But shortly before his death he been offered employment in a cement factory by a customer who bought the Big Issue from him.
The Coroner recorded a narrative verdict that Mr Waddington, who had no fixed address, died whilst driving a car under the influence of alcohol.
He said the death should be a lesson to others who might think they were safe to drive after consuming alcohol over the Christmas period.
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