Inquest into 'much loved' Desborough teenager Reece Armer who died in crash on Harborough Road
The inquest looking into the death of a teenage driver from Desborough has heard about the events that lead up to a fatal car crash in which he died.
Reece Armer, 19, died in the early hours of Sunday, February 11, 2024 in Harborough Road when his blue Suzuki Swift failed to negotiate a bend, ploughing into a fence of a motel on the outskirts of his home town.
Family members packed the Coroner’s Court held at the Guildhall in Northampton when senior coroner for Northamptonshire Anne Pember heard evidence on Wednesday (November 20) from police officers and vehicle experts.
Officers found Reece in his car on the grassed area of the Travel Plaza Hotel, Desborough, after a call had been made to emergency services at 2.34am.
He had been impaled in his chest by one of the posts that his car had crashed through.
In a heartfelt tribute read to the court, Reece’s mum Donna described her family’s loss saying he was a ‘livewire’ and a bit of a ‘tearaway’ when he had been younger but had grown into a ‘young gentleman’ who had been looking forward to starting a family of his own.
The statement said: “He was always there for us. Words cannot describe the pure pain of losing a son at such a young age. He has left a huge hole in everyone’s heart.”
A postmortem had discovered a ‘raised level’ of ethanol of in his blood – with the inquest told it was possible it was due to ‘fermentation’ after death.
Giving evidence on behalf Northamptonshire Police accident investigation team PC Jack Mitchinson set out the findings of colleagues who had examined the circumstances of Reece’s death.
The court was told that Reece had driven from Desborough to Great Bowden and back again – his movements had been revealed after examination of data from an app on his girlfriend’s phone that she used to keep track of him.
Information from the Life360 app and GPS movements showed Reece’s car had reached a top speed of 105mph on his journey on the night of his death. He had topped 80mph five times and evidence revealed three instances of ‘hard braking’.
PC Mitchinson said: “At 1.52am GPS showed it (the car) leaving the road and taking a straight line to the resting place. It failed to negotiate the bend as opposed to a deliberate steer off the road.”
Just moments before the accident Reece had sent a picture on snapchat showing his steering wheel and his speedo that showed over 100mph and showed the motel in the distance.
Data showed he had been travelling at 104.1mph – the speed limit on the B576 Harborough Road is 60mph.
As he reached the junction of Harborough Road with Brampton Wood Lane, the car struck two kerbs, hit a concrete bollard before rotating through ‘at least’ 180 degrees and finally coming to a stop on a lawn of the motel.
Asked by Mrs Pember whether he thought the accident was caused by ‘a combination of speed, distraction and alcohol’, PC Mitchinson simply replied ‘yes’.
Giving her conclusion Mrs Pember said: “Clearly Reece was much loved. He had consumed alcohol and drove at an excessive speed, and he was on his phone.
"He died of road traffic collision. I am very sorry for your loss.”