- GCSE pupil Mohammed Toheed , 16, had become obsessed with sports cars after working at a car wash and had managed to buy a BMW
- He had taken the car out for a drive through his hometown of Burnley
- Tried to overtake a Peugeot but lost control when faced by oncoming car
- He then made a sharp turn to the left causing the car to spin 180 degrees
- The 16-year-old, who did not have a licence, then crashed into a tree
A schoolboy 'obsessed by sports cars' secretly bought a BMW and died when he ploughed into a tree while trying to overtake another vehicle, an inquest heard.
Mohammed Toheed was only 16 with no formal driving training but had managed to buy the high performance car without his family knowing.
He had taken the car out for a drive through his hometown of Burnley and was speeding at 70mph in the 30mph zone.
As he was driving the BMW 318SE along Ridge Avenue he tried to overtake a Peugeot only to lose control when faced by an oncoming car.
He then made a sharp turn to the left causing the car to spin 180 degrees before crashing into a tree at 40-50mph.
Firefighters spent 90 minutes freeing him from the wreckage but he was pronounced dead shortly after.
Mohammed Toheed, 16, had grown obsessed with sports cars after working at a car wash
The Marsden Height Community College pupil was driving a BMW 318SE along Ridge Avenue (pictured) when the accident happened shortly after 9.40pm on April 7 this year
At an inquest in Burnley, his sister Syeedy Nefasa said the Year 11 pupil had grown to love cars after working at a car wash.
As well as the BMW, he had also purchased a Nissan.
In a statement she said: 'In the last summer I know that he started working at a car wash in Nelson. It was around that time that he began to get passionate about cars.
'It could be said that he was obsessed by the sports cars.'
Mohammed Toheed was only 16 with no formal driving training but had managed to buy a BMW without his family knowing
She added: 'None of my family knew that he owned the BMW, or that he even knew how to operate a car. No one in the family had ever showed him how to. He did not get much spending money so we don't know how he bought the car.'
Toheed was killed while driving through the Lancashire town on April 7 this year.
The driver of the Peugeot, Lauren Doyle, said: 'I noticed headlights behind me and a car travelling at excessive speed. I have previously had a car hit mine from behind so I am overly cautious and kept looking in my back mirrors.
'It was a dark car that was trying to overtake, and then I saw another car on the opposite side of the road. I slowed down to almost a stop, and did not think that the other car would think they could do the manoeuvre. The car carried on to the opposite side of the road and the other car pulled over into a small gated area.
'But the dark car swerved sharply back on to the right side of the road. It was too sharp and the car began turning in a 180 degrees.'
Joseph Whittaker, who was at the wheel of the oncoming vehicle, said: 'I remember seeing the headlights of one vehicle and then there were two sets of headlights as though side by side. I wasn't sure if the car was trying to overtake or move around the stationary car, but it was travelling over 50.
'I slowed down and swerved to the left and the dark car overtook the other car and I beeped my horn. The other vehicle's driving was very erratic, and did not look ahead to safely over take.'
PC Robert Newcombe said: 'The driver of the BMW was attempting to over take a slower moving vehicle, and moved into the opposite side of the carriageway.
'The BMW driver made a sharp turn to the left causing the vehicle to rotate in an anti clockwise direction, mounting the verge into the tree. The impact at the time of impact with the tree was 40-50 mph.
'But the car would have slowed down in its rotating so it is estimated it was travelling between 60 - 70 mph before that point. The speed limit for that road is 30mph. At 60-70 mph he lost control.'
He added: 'The driver was a young man who had no formal driving training. The driver was inexperienced and lost control of the vehicle at excessive speed trying to over take a slower moving vehicle.
'By the time I got to the scene the fire service had been trying to cut him out and had cut the seatbelt, because he was wearing one.
'The tree had impacted where the driver was in the car - if it hadn't done, he may have stood a chance.'
The schoolboy crashed into this tree after losing control of the high performance car
Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Assistant Coroner Mark Williams said: 'The vehicle was legitimately owned by him, as legitimately as it possibly can be by a 16 year old.
'At 16 he should not have been driving and should not have been on the road.. Two logbooks were found, one for the BMW and another for a Nissan. Mohammed was a 16 year old boy who was loved by his family and friends but tragically lost his life. He was driving the BMW, he was overtaking one vehicle and one was coming in the opposite direction. He ended up in a 180 degree spin hitting the side of a tree.
'That caused significant and immediate injury to him. He was a young boy who was driving a motorised vehicle which he should not have been, he had no experience driving or being on a road, and it was the driving that caused the collision and caused his death.'
References
- ^ Thomas Burrows for MailOnline (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ e-mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ 35 View comments (www.dailymail.co.uk)
