A BUILDER’S labourer was more than three times over the drink-drive limit when his car crashed and somersaulted, throwing him into the road, an inquest heard.

Daniel Hitchcock, 28, who had also taken cocaine, was banned from driving and was not wearing a seat belt at the time.

The inquest heard that after leaving the Royal Oak pub in Blean, near Canterbury on January 15, this year, Mr Hitchcock lost control of the borrowed car he was driving on the A290 at Pean Hill, close to the junction with Fox’s Cross Road.

Despite his desperate attempts to correct it, the Ford Escort Cabriolet spun across the carriageway and turned over, catapulting Mr Hitchcock into the road. He died instantly.

Coroner Rebecca Cobb returned a verdict of death by misadventure.

Mr Hitchcock had met friends at the pub half-an-hour before closing time and left in a convoy with two other cars.

The car in front was driven by Robert Sturrock, of Ivory Close, Faversham.

He told the inquest: “We left at about 11.30pm. I thought Danny had only drunk a lemonade in the pub and he said he was fine to drive.

“At first, there was a constant distance between us and Danny’s car but when we reached the Meadow Grange Nursery he overtook us. I couldn’t tell if he was accelerating away but he was out of our sight for no more than 15 seconds.

“We came around a bend and saw the Escort on the other side of the road, facing back towards Canterbury. We stopped and I saw Danny lying in the road as I got out of the car.”

Mr Hitchcock was driving back to his mother Betty Lilley’s home in Swalecliffe Road, Tankerton, where he had been living since Christmas, 2004.

Crash investigator PC Martin Ostler told the inquest that although the bend was fairly sharp it could have been safely navigated at a speed in excess of the 40mph limit. He could not confirm the estimated speed of the car when it crashed.

He said: “The Escort’s left wheels had driven on to the verge and the driver then steered excessively towards the right to regain control.

“It was an over-correction and the car struck the embankment, leading to a barrel-style, side- to-side roll. The car then slid backwards on its roof, throwing the driver out.

“The alcohol and small quantity of cocaine may have contributed to the crash and the violent over-steer to correct the vehicle. There was no evidence to suggest the front seat belts were in use at the time.”

The former Herne Bay Junior and Herne Bay High School pupil worked as a builder’s labourer and had also worked for Railtrack.

He had been banned from driving for 20 months for drink-driving in January, 2004.