A teenage driver died following a horror smash three weeks after passing his test, an inquest heard.

Eighteen-year-old Connor Geary, from Aylesford, was killed when his car overturned on the Snodland bypass.

The popular student, of Ash Close, suffered serious head injuries in the crash and later died in hospital.

A hearing at Maidstone's County Hall was told how Connor was taking four friends home towards Snodland when the accident happened at about 4.30am on July 10 last year.

They were travelling in a blue Peugeot 206 along the A228 Malling Road when it hit the central reservation before the Snodland turn-off.

The car rolled over and hit a tree before coming to rest against a lorry parked in a lay-by on the opposite carriageway.

No other vehicles were involved.

The inquest heard Connor, a MidKent College student, had to be cut free from the car's wreckage before being rushed to Maidstone Hospital where he died later that day.

His four passengers - Peter Thompson, Chris Brain, Adam Forsyth and Michael Wood - escaped with minor injuries.

A toxicology test showed there were no traces of alcohol in Connor’s blood at the time of crash.

In a witness statement read to the court, driver Graeme Hamilton said he saw the Peugeot "gunning past" him at "50 to 60mph" moments before the crash.

The spot in Snodland where Aylesford teenager Connor Geary died

PC Stephen King, the first officer to arrive at the crash site, told the hearing in the aftermath of the accident Mr Thompson said Connor had been playing about with the steering, deliberately causing the car to swerve.

Mr Thompson said he could not recall speaking to the officer who had no official record of their conservation, but may have told Connor to slow down earlier in the journey.

He said his friend's driving was "pacey" before reaching the Snodland bypass, but not erratic.

At the hearing, which was attended by Connor's mother Emma and younger brother Callum, none of his passengers recalled Connor driving at excess speed in the build-up to the crash.

In recording a verdict of accidental death, MidKent and Medway Coroner Patricia Harding said there was no firm evidence to explain the car hitting the central reservation.

She said: "He was an inexperienced driver, but if he had been more experienced I can't say the same thing would not have happened."