A YOUNG man from Warfield died after being thrown from his car when it collided with a tree, an inquest has heard.

Grant Stephen Henry Futcher, 25, of Hebbecastle Down, suffered catastrophic brain injuries when he lost control of his silver Volkswagen Golf on the A330 at Hawthorn Hill, and ploughed into a tree shortly before midnight on January 25 this year.

An inquest into his tragic death, held at Reading Town Hall on Monday, heard how Mr Futcher was the sole occupant of the car when he misjudged a right-hand bend on the road, crossed the carriageway and crashed into a ditch close to the Bird Hills Golf Centre.

The force of the impact was so great that Mr Futcher, who was not wearing his seatbelt, and the car's engine were thrown approximately 10 metres from the crash site.

A friend of Mr Futcher, Alexander Millward Taylor, was travelling in a separate car when he happened to see Mr Futcher's car drive past him as he waited to turn at a junction.

In a statement, he said he recognised the car to be that of Mr Futcher's, and noticed that it was travelling very quickly. As Mr Millward Taylor joined the A330, and cleared the bend, he said he was surprised not to see Mr Futcher's car up ahead. As he drove on, he noticed debris in the road, before he saw his friend's car on its side in the ditch by the side of the road.

Mr Millward Taylor stopped his car, and rushed to see if his friend was ok. He called out, but received no reply and could not see anyone in the car. He jumped over the ditch and found Mr Futcher lying in a field.

An off-duty police officer, DC Kate Kent, was on her way home after finishing work at Three Mile Cross police station, when she happened across the scene of the crash. She said in a statement that upon finding Mr Futcher and his friend in the field, she called for an ambulance and started performing CPR until paramedics arrived.

Mr Futcher was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where a scan revealed severe bleeding and swelling of the brain, and he underwent emergency surgery to relieve some of the pressure, but this was unsuccessful. A decision was made by senior clinicians that Mr Futcher's injuries were unsurvivable, and he passed away at 12.35pm on January 26.

Kevin Spiller, a Forensic Collision Investigator with Hampshire Police, examined the scene of the crash to determine what had caused Mr Futcher to lose control of his car.

He found the road conditions to be dry but cold, and although the road would have been dark with very little ambient light, the road surface was in a good condition and was not icy. Warning signs before the bend, and 'slow' signs painted on the road, were also visible and in good condition.

Tyre marks on the road allowed Mr Spiller to plot the car's trajectory, and after a thorough investigation, he estimated Mr Futcher to be travelling at approximately 80mph when he lost control, despite the speed limit being 60mph.

He told the inquest: "If you take that bend at that speed, you leave no margin for error."

A toxicology report found 119mg of alcohol in Mr Futcher's blood, above the drink-drive limit of 80mg.

The Chief Coroner for Berkshire, Mr Peter Bedford said: "The evidence I have is very consistent. We can put Mr Futcher's speed at approximately 80mph, which is in excess of the speed limit. He was able to get round the bend prior to losing control, moving across the road and coming into contact with a substantial tree.

"This was a high-speed impact.

"It is impossible to ignore that there was excessive alcohol in his system: not significant but above the drink-drive limit. It is also impossible to ignore the fact that Mr Futcher had chosen not to wear his seatbelt.

"I would like to personally commend DC Kent for her efforts in trying to save Mr Futcher's life."

The coroner recorded a death by road traffic collision.