Fatal 100mph crash dad was 'begged to stop'

A man who crashed a car at around 100mph killing himself and his teenage daughter had been begged to slow down by his surviving passengers, an inquest has heard.

Tyre fitter John Daniel Roberts, 34, from Flint in Flintshire, was driving his partner Jennifer Vale, his 13-year-old daughter Lacie and two other teenage girls home in the early hours of 22 April 2022 after visiting family.

CCTV showed the car, which had been travelling in a 40mph zone, career sideways off the A548 in Bagillt, break through a wire fence and crash off camera into the wall of a gym.

Mr Roberts died of head injuries in the impact while Lacie died shortly afterwards, leaving the three others in the vehicle seriously hurt.

In a statement Ms Vale said she had seen Mr Roberts drink a glass of gin and a gin and lemonade earlier that evening but added "he didn't appear drunk".

She said she asked him if he was okay to drive and he said he was "fine".

She estimated that the car - a BMW Saloon which had been left with Mr Daniels for repair - was travelling at about 100 mph (160km/h) before the crash.

Adding that "the kids were loving it", she said that she had told him to stop speeding before the incident happened.

Statements from two other rear seat passengers - both teenage girls who cannot be identified for legal reasons - were also read out in court.

One 14-year-old girl said Mr Roberts was "hammered" and that "he couldn't walk straight and you couldn't understand what he said".

"Danny always drove fast but just didn't care," she added.

A 15-year-old female passenger also said she kept her eyes closed for the journey because she was so scared.

She said she heard the other girl shouting for him to slow down and that Ms Vale had said, "Please stop, it's scaring me."

She had also heard Mr Roberts reply, "I think we'll be fine."

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Roberts was over the legal drink drive limit and had enough cocaine in his system to have warranted a charge of driving whilst unfit through drugs had he had survived.

A police investigation found that the car was being driven at "extremely high speed" and that Mr Roberts didn't respond to requests to slow down.

The senior coroner for North Wales East and Central John Gittins concluded that Mr Roberts died as a result of a road traffic collision.

A separate inquest for Lacie Roberts is due to be held on 24 July.