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Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams star, 18, was doing 80mph on 30mph road when he crashed and died, inquest hears
@Source: dailymail.co.uk
A teenager who appeared on Freddie Flintoff's Field Of Dreams was driving at over 80mph on a 30mph road when he was killed, an inquest has heard.
Eighteen-year-old Umar Mahmood's Audi A3 Sport hit a kerb four times before ploughing into two trees and overturning on its side.
Tragically back seat passenger Adam Bodi, 16 - who did not appear to be wearing a seat belt - also died when he was catapulted into and over the front seat forcing the driver into the dashboard.
The impact was so great that passers-by who ran to their help initially thought there was only one person in the driver's seat.
A third teenager, Zane Timol, 17, a front seat passenger who survived the crash, told an inquest in Preston, Lancashire today how the three childhood friends, all students, had gone for a drive at around 10.30pm after meeting up at a local mosque.
He told the inquest: 'I have never had any concerns about Umar's driving. I have always felt safe with him.
'I know he had both hands on the steering wheel just before the crash. We must have been doing about 50mph.'
But Lancashire Police collision investigator PC Anthony Grey said data from air bags sent away for analysis showed the car had reached speeds of over 80 mph in the seconds before the crash and hit the first tree at a speed of 78.9 mph.
He said checks showed there were no defects with the car which lost control on a gentle S-bend on Chain Caul Way in Preston on September 10 last year.
Two men in a car that was first on the scene, Andrew Hood and Harry Worthington, stopped to help after seeing a 'dark shape' in the road that turned out to be the Audi's engine.
Both men said the smell of fuel lay heavy in the air and tried to rescue the three teenager amid fears the Audi could ignite.
Mr Hood said he at first thought there was only one person in the driver's seat.
Adam was declared dead in the early hours of the following morning after being taken to hospital. Umar died the following day on September 12, 2024.
Preston area coroner Kate Bissett recorded a verdict that both teenagers died due to a road traffic condition with both sustaining traumatic brain and lung injuries.
She said: 'It seems to be the loss of these two young men is a tragedy that from which the families will do well to every recover from.'
Umar had been filmed being coached by the England cricket legend in 'Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams', a show which saw the all-rounder turned TV presenter recruit teenagers from under privileged parts of Lancashire in a bid to change people's perspective of the sport.
Umar, like Adam a pupil at Penwortham Priory Academy in Preston, told his school website in 2022: 'They said they wanted to do a documentary about cricket and give people like me an opportunity which I might not otherwise have.
'We were trained by Andrew Flintoff, who is really down-to-earth, and Kyle Hogg as well.
'They taught us different types of cricketing skills and it has been really good. I would say now I am a bit of an all-rounder.
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