Teenager killed in horror crash during police chase was driving 'stolen' car on false plates
09.08.2022 - 22:09
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A teenager was behind the wheel of a 'stolen' car when he was killed in a horror crash during a police chase, an inquest has heard. Devonte Scott was fatally injured when the Ford Fiesta he was driving smashed into two cars in Urmston Lane, Stretford, on May 16 of last year.
An inquest into his death this week has heard that the 18-year-old, who was driving without a licence, suffered an 'unsurvivable' head injury after his car flipped on its roof. On the second day of the hearing at Manchester South Coroner's Court today (Tuesday), a jury was told that the car Devonte was driving had been reported stolen less than a month earlier.
Detective Sergeant Marie Eldred, of Greater Manchester Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, told the inquest that the Fiesta was reported stolen on April 21, 2021. However, she said there was no evidence to suggest Devonte, from Old Trafford, was responsible for the theft.
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She told jurors that an investigation carried out after Devonte's death revealed that the vehicle was being driven on a false number plate when officers in an unmarked police car came across it in Urmston Lane.
The officer driving the police car previously told the hearing that he signalled for the Fiesta to stop after it overtook his vehicle from behind and 'continued to accelerate'. Giving evidence today, Sergeant Adrian Pye, a forensic collision investigator at GMP, told jurors that the vehicle then slowed down and police briefly deactivated their emergency equipment.
However, the Fiesta then performed a U-turn and drove off in the opposite direction. Officers gave chase as Devonte reached