A TAILGATING motorist may have also played a tragic part in the crash which killed two teenagers on a notorious stretch of road on the outskirts of Ryde, an inquest heard.
Island coroner John Matthews told the hearing that teenage driver Benjamin Anderson — serving a year behind bars after admitting causing death by careless driving — was not the only one to blame for the accident that claimed the lives of two of his passengers.
Mr Matthews said that 23-year-old Andrew Harvey, who was driving the car behind Anderson, had also contributed to the crash.
Although Mr Harvey was not charged by police following the collision, Mr Matthews felt his MG Rover ZR was travelling too quickly and too close to Anderson’s Peugeot 106 on the 50mph national speed limit road — something Mr Harvey denied.
The inquest was told that George Hamon, 17, of Steyne Road, Bembridge, and 16-year-old Guy Knight, of Upper Green Road, St Helens, both died of multiple injuries when the car they were travelling in collided with another vehicle at Beaper Shute last December.
The inquest heard Anderson, who had only been driving for around six months and had smoked a small amount of cannabis earlier in the day, had accelerated away from Mr Harvey on a cold and possibly icy evening, before losing control on a bend and colliding with a Mercedes ML driven by John Prince.
George and Guy suffered devastating internal injuries, while Anderson’s other passengers, David 'Rob’ Jones and Zak Jones, both 18, also sustained serious injuries.
The five teenagers had known each other since they were at school together, and had gone out for a drive to celebrate Rob’s 18th birthday.
Mr Matthews, who described the crash as a terrible tragedy, recorded verdicts of accidental death on George and Guy.