Driver drove 'wrong way' before

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The survivor of a fatal road crash caused by a car driving the wrong way down the M4 said it was not the first time the driver had done so.

James Bunnett told Newport coroner's court Christopher Beresford, 18, had driven the wrong way up the motorway to avoid police on a previous occasion.

Mr Beresford, Lee Maggs, 23, and Sam Case, 19, all died after their Mondeo hit an oncoming Volvo on the road.

James and Bridget Stafford, from Surrey, also died in the crash.

The 69-year-old Mr Stafford and his 70-year-old wife had been travelling home to England following a holiday in Ireland when they were killed in the collision near junction 24 of the M4 at Newport on 17 September 2007.

Mr Bunnett is the sole survivor of the accident and was not present at the inquest when his evidence was heard.

'Insane' speed

Instead it was read out to the jury in the form of a statement in which he explained that the car had been going at an "insane" speed shortly before the crash.

Mr Bunnett described how Mr Beresford could not control the car and how Mr Case had lent over to try and help him before the crash occurred.

He told the court how the driver had been disqualified from driving and how he knew that Mr Beresford would never stop for the police and risk being sent back to prison.

He went on to describe how Mr Beresford was a "mad and insane driver" who did not care.

He remembered thinking that there was no way the police would chase them up the M4 the wrong way and that it was a tactic that the driver had used before.

The inquest heard Mr Bunnett had been in a village near Newport called Parc Seymour with his friends on the night of the crash.

He described to the jury how he had been going through a teenage rebellion in the month leading up to the accident which involved him stealing cars and fighting.

'Acting suspiciously'

Mr Bunnett had been in Parc Seymour that night and had been hiding from police after being seen acting suspiciously with his friends outside a local home.

At around 0300 BST, after they had been hiding out for a couple of hours, Mr Bunnett and his friends were spotted driving in their Mondeo by a patrol car.

After failing to stop, the police car chased them towards the motorway whilst travelling at speeds of up to 126mph.

The jury were shown a two-minute video of the police pursuit which ended when Mr Beresford drove up the exit slip-road of the M4 and ultimately led to the fatal accident.

The inquest also heard form Mr Maggs' brother, Wayne, who had been left behind at Parc Seymour earlier that night.

The jury heard how he got his then girlfriend, Sarah Inker, to ring his brother and how she was told he could not speak as he was involved in a police chase.

Ms Inker told him to get out of the car but was told that he could not.

She rang him a total of three times and could hear fear in his voice but was disconnected on the final call.

She then rang Mr Case and heard the sound of skidding tyres.

The inquest continues.