A man who died in a car crash in Hawkhurst was driving on the wrong side of the road and was over the alcohol limit, a police report concluded.

Stewart Hook, of Avards Close, Hawkhurst, was travelling north on the A229 Cranbrook Road near Gills Green when his Hyundai Coupe crossed over to the south-bound carriageway and collided head-on with a Range Rover Evoque.

Emergency services at the scene. Video: UKNIP

Mr Hook, 34, suffered severe haemorrhaging and a ruptured liver. Although he was still conscious when medics arrived, they were unable to save him and he died at the scene.

PC Mark Myers investigated the accident that occurred on December 4 last year.

He said a CCTV camera a few hundred metres away from the scene of the accident had recorded a vehicle passing at a speed of between 51 and 59mph. He believed this to be Mr Hook's Hyundai but the image was not good enough for him to be certain.

The speed limit at that point was 40mph.

He said Mr Hook had not been wearing a seat-belt.

The Range Rover was being driven by Susan McBride, with Francesca McBride as a passenger. Both women had been wearing seatbelts and survived the crash.

Francesca McBride told the police that when she first saw the Hyundai it had been on its correct side of the road, but then for no obvious reason had suddenly swerved into their path.

He said the weather conditions had been good. Both vehicles had been examined and neither had any pre-existing defects and the road surface was good. There was no apparent reason for Mr Hook to cross lanes. Mrs McBride had tested negative for alcohol and drugs.

A toxicology report on Mr Hook, a compound technician, revealed that he had 84mg of alcohol in 110ml of blood, just over the legal limit of 80mg. However, it was observed that as Mr Hook had been given fluids by the paramedics in an attempt to maintain life, the true reading at impact would have been higher.

In addition there was an element of THC acid in his urine, which is a metabolite of cannabis.

With no contributory factors, Mr Myers concluded the accident "had been the results of actions by Mr Hook."

The coroner Roger Hatch concluded that Mr Hook's death had been the result of a road traffic crash.

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