A man died after crashing his car while twice the legal alcohol limit – just five days before he was due in court accused of drink-driving.

Ben Ashford, from Staplehurst, promised friends he would sleep in his Audi A5 after a night out at Maidstone club.

But instead he got behind the wheel and got caught up in a police chase.

An inquest heard the 26-year-old from Pinnock Lane was travelling at about 100mph when he veered off a sharp bend on the A229 near Staplehurst.

This was around 2.45am on Saturday, March 23.

The motorist, who previously lived in Mangravet, was due to appear before magistrates the following Thursday, charged with drink-driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident in Norfolk Road, Shepway in February.

PC Marc Daniel was on duty the morning Mr Ashford died.

He was driving a marked Skoda on Loose Road, near the junior school, when Mr Ashford’s apparently speeding vehicle came towards him in the 30mph zone. PC Daniel flashed the oncoming car but it accelerated towards Linton crossroads.

The officer pursued, but struggled to keep up with the
Audi, which appeared to go through a red light and down Linton Hill.

Witness Declan Cheeseman said Mr Ashford overtook his Citroen Saxo on a blind bend just past The Stilebridge pub, closely followed by the police.

CCTV footage taken about 530 metres before the crash site shows PC Daniel approximately nine seconds behind the Audi.

Mr Ashford, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the car as it crashed on the next corner, between Summerhill Road and Chart Hill Road.

The five-door estate hit a tree and a brick wall before overturning and crushing the former Oldborough Manor pupil.

PC Daniel arrived seconds later. An ambulance was called but Mr Ashford died at the scene.

Mid Kent and Medway coroner, Patricia Harding, recorded the cause of death as a road traffic collision and said she was satisfied the officer's actions did not contribute.