‘MIRACLE’ BABY SURVIVED DEATH CRASH
AN 11-MONTH-OLD baby “miraculously” survived a horrific collision that killed his teenage mother and her disqualified driver boyfriend, an inquest heard.
Jason Thomas, 23, who was later found to have alcohol and cannabis in his blood, lost control of the Peugeot 206 he was driving at around 3.15am on Swansea Road in Swansea on November 4 last year.
He and his partner, front-seat passenger Naomi Carter, 18, were pronounced dead at the scene, while witnesses who heard the collision used bolt-cutters to remove her son, Brogan, from his car seat in the back.
Yesterday Swansea Coroner’s Court heard Mr Thomas did not own the vehicle and was not insured to drive it, but planned to buy it from a friend, Eva Johns, a few days later.
He had called her late on November 3 and asked if he could borrow the vehicle.
Ms Johns agreed and Mr Thomas, Ms Carter and Brogan arrived at her home in Pontardawe via taxi after midnight.
PC Alun Efstathiou said: “Eva said ‘he (Mr Thomas) seemed fine, he was not under the influence of drink or drugs... he seemed happy and told me he would have the car back in the morning.’
“They both took great care strapping the baby in the back seat in a car seat.”’
The inquest heard another friend saw the trio in a Mumbles car park a short time later.
Jessica Rees told police Mr Thomas “smelled strongly of cannabis” and his behaviour was “erratic”.
At 3.15am neighbours living on Swansea Road were woken by a loud bang.
PC Efstathiou said the scene they found was described as “horrific”, with Brogan crying in the back of the car and Mr Thomas and Ms Carter not moving in the front.
He said: “Witnesses used boltcroppers so the baby could be removed from the wreckage of the car.”
Collision investigator PC Kyle Smith said in his opinion the Peugeot was travelling “well in excess” of the 20mph speed limit and it appeared the vehicle had clipped a kerb, which resulted in a loss of control.
He said the Peugeot suffered “catastrophic damage” which “clearly showed” the shape of the electrical post the vehicle had collided with.
In her statement, Ms Carter’s mother, Kerry Green, said her daughter and Mr Thomas started a relationship in August 2017 after the relationship between her and Brogan’s father ended.
She said Mr Thomas was also the father of a young child and her daughter was the “happiest she ever seemed” in the relationship.
Recounting a conversation with her daughter hours before her death, Ms Green said: “Jason said he wanted to take care of Naomi, to look after her.
“It was nice to hear them planning a future and what they would make of their lives.”
Ms Green added she would “never know” why her daughter got into the car that night.
Coroner Colin Phillips said Mr Thomas had a small amount of alcohol and some cannabis in his blood, “but we can’t determine what effect that had on the driver” or if it contributed to the incident.
The inquest heard the level of alcohol in Mr Thomas’ blood was found to be 56mg/100ml of blood.
Mr Phillips said: “There is no evidence of any other vehicle being involved in the incident... The evidence I have heard from the police is that clearly Jason was exceeding the speed limit.
“It is apparent there was a certain amount of driver error involved.”
He concluded that both died as a result of a road traffic collision.
Mr Phillips added: “The only blessing is that Brogan miraculously survived such a horrific incident.
“This can be put down to the care shown by Naomi and Jason in ensuring he was secure in the car.”