A144 Halesworth crash victim Ben Doughty was more than twice the drink-drive limit when he died, Suffolk Coroner's Court told

A man who died in a 'tragic' crash on the A144 near Bungay was more than double the drink-drive limit, Suffolk Coroner's Court has been told.

Benjamin Doughty, 28 of Mill Road in Holton, Halesworth, died on August 15, 2021, after the car he was driving crashed into another and veered off-road into a field, where he was thrown from the vehicle.

A post-mortem examination into his death found he suffered complex injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10.08pm.

Today, an inquest into the death heard Ben, as he was known to his friends and family, had been celebrating a christening at the Huntsman and Hounds pub in Spexhall before the crash.

His partner Nicole told the court they had had a 'relaxing day full of laughter' and friends said had been drinking, as Nicole planned to drive the pair and their children home at the end of the night.

Later in the evening, guests said they witnessed Ben, who was a self-employed builder and had been renovating The Buck Inn at Flixton throughout Covid with plans to open it, growing tired and falling asleep at the venue.

Just after 9pm, the father-of-two told his friends and his partner that he was going to go home and took the car keys from Nicole, who said she would get their children ready and assumed she would meet him at the car.

But Ben left the venue in Nicole's blue Audi alone and, during the journey on the A144 'Bungay straight' at the top of the humpback bridge, he collided with a Kia C'eed, left the road and entered a field.

A statement from the driver of the Kia was read to the court, in which she said she did not see his headlights shining over the bridge on approach and his car had 'disappeared' when she pulled over after the impact.

She added that she only knew he had veered into the field when the emergency services arrived and told her.

Forensic investigator PC Mark Head told the court the debris surrounding the crash site as well as tyre marks on the grass enabled them to see the route the car took into the field, where rolled several times and came to a stop in a second field.

PC Head said the car travelled 100m to the field entry point and then a further 115/120m from entry to where it came to rest.

He also said investigators were 'confident' Ben, who was found laying in the field by a passerby who pulled over to help, was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and added it would be 'fair' to say Ben was likely to be travelling over the speed limit of 60mph.

Post-mortem examinations found Ben had 227mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system at the time of his death, more than double the drink-drive limit of 80mg.

Coroner Nigel Parsley recorded the death as a road traffic collision.

He said: "There simply isn't anything to explain why Ben got in that car and why he drove. Only Ben could give us the answer to that question.

"I want to pass on my condolences to you all for your loss in these really tragic circumstances," he added.

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