Drug driver and girlfriend died in pick-up crash

A couple died when their pick-up left the road while being driven at "high speed" by a man under the influence of cocaine, an inquest heard.

Nathan Stephen Naughton, 26, and his girlfriend Olivia Grace Maltby, 22, were both killed in the single vehicle collision on the A631 Tickhill Road in Bawtry, near Doncaster, on 21 January.

Both driver Mr Naughton and passenger Miss Maltby were thrown from the Ford Ranger when it failed to negotiate a bend and struck a tree.

An inquest into both of their deaths was held at Nottingham Coroner's Court on 1 July.

Mr Naughton, a builder, and Miss Maltby, an equestrian groom who was a talented showjumper, were returning to his home in Rossington after socialising with friends in Bawtry when the crash happened.

Nottinghamshire Police officers who investigated the collision told the hearing that Mr Naughton had been "well in excess" of cocaine and alcohol driving limits and that the pick-up's speedometer had stopped at 90mph.

The Nottingham Post also reported that the inquest was told that neither Mr Naughton or his partner had been wearing seatbelts.

Police concluded that the crash had been caused by the speed and inebriation of Mr Naughton.

Witnesses said the Ranger hit a kerb before the driver lost control and the vehicle left the road.

Miss Maltby, from Hatfield Woodhouse, was below the drink drive limit.

The gifted rider had competed at the Horse of the Year Show and was described in tributes from the equestrian community as a "born superstar" and a "complete natural in the saddle".

Coroner Nathanael Hartley ruled that both victims died from multiple injuries and recorded conclusions of death in a road traffic collision.

In 2017 Mr Naughton, then aged 20, was given an 18-month driving ban by Doncaster Magistrates' Court for drug driving.

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