Teenage biker had smoked cannabis before 'horrendous' fatal collision, inquest hears

Neither Logan Soakell or pillion passenger Brandon Haswell were wearing helmets when they crashed in their home village of Haswell on the B1280 Salter’s Lane at around 8.30pm on Friday, September 9, last year.

An inquest into the 19-year-old's death heard he died at the scene of severe head injuries, while Brandon has been left with “life changing” head injuries and cannot remember the collision, which threw them both off the bike.

Investigations showed the bike had slid along the pavement and stopped as it struck a telegraph pole.

The hearing, at Crook Civic Centre, heard no reason could be found for why he lost control of the Honda GLC 125cc, with no witnesses or CCTV coverage.

It also found high speed was not a factor, with police estimating he had been travelling at 37mph in the 30mph zone, having come from a section of road covered by the national speed limit.

It could not be established whether injuries caused to Logan were due to contact with his bike, pavement or the pole.

However, toxicology reports found what assistant senior coroner for County Durham and Darlington Crispin Oliver termed “very high” levels of THC - psychoactive constituent of cannabis – in his system.

This showed he had smoked the drug “immediately prior to the incident” with the affect that it would “make a competent driver or rider incompetent.”

A video shot by Brandon earlier in their journey on his phone had been deleted after his phone which was found at the scene and handed to his family.

Investigators said the phone was then disposed of, but Mr Oliver concluded in any case, it had did not captured the tragedy.

As Mr Oliver concluded Logan died due to a road traffic collision, he added: “There’s no evidence that Logan had been taking avoiding action because of a pedestrian or animal, however Logan had used cannabis prior to the incident and the concentrations in his blood indicated a sustained and intense use shortly before the incident occurred.”

He thanked Logan’s family, parents Douglas and Joanne, and siblings Faye and Kyle, for the dignity they had shown during the inquiry.

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