Reckless driving in lead-up to crash

A Rochdale motorist has described how a Royton man who died following a high-speed crash in Saddleworth had been driving recklessly.

Matthew Fricker, from Clarence Street, Royton, suffered brain injuries after the Nissan Micra he was driving crashed in Oldham Road, Denshaw, on the day of his 20th birthday on September 19, 2009.

Tim Liptrot, from Firgrove, Rochdale, told an inquest at Oldham Magistrates’ Court yesterday he had been driving a friend to his Denshaw home in the early hours of September 19 when he was forced to swerve away from an oncoming Nissan Micra which was travelling at great speed in the middle of the road.

He said: “It was just a blur. It was travelling at 100 mile per hour, like he was on a motorway.

“About four seconds later a police car with sirens and blue lights went past.

“A few seconds after that I heard a loud bang like a firework going off.”

Mr Liptrot drove to the scene of the crash where he saw the car smashed against the wall.

He said: “The car was so damaged I couldn’t tell what car it was.

“I’ve been driving for five years and I’ve never seen driving like that in a country lane before. It was just reckless.”

Described by his family as a ‘likeable rogue’, Matthew Fricker died in Tameside Hospital two days later, and his organs were donated to six people.

Front-seat passenger James Peters, 18, of Ripponden Road, Oldham, suffered knee and neck injuries, while a 16-year-old back seat passenger, who cannot be named for legal reasons, walked away with minor injuries.

The inquest heard how Mr Fricker, who had been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 15, had been electronically tagged and given a curfew order at the time of his death.

The jury of seven men and three women heard how he had not passed his driving test but had been disqualified from driving for 12 months in May, 2009.

His mother Tanya Wrigley said he was caring and close to his grandmother, and his upbeat attitude and love of life endeared him to many.

But she said he had breached his curfew order by not coming home the week before his death.

In a police interview, the teenage car passenger said Mr Fricker had stolen the keys to the blue Nissan Micra Sport at about 11.30pm on September 18, 2009, before driving them around Chadderton and then Denshaw before heading to the M62 motorway.

He said when an unmarked police car came up behind them and flashed his lights, they did a U-turn and headed back at about 60 miles per hour.

He said during the pursuit, both he and Mr Peters had been telling Mr Fricker to slow down before hitting the kerb just before the Printers Arms pub.

He said: “I was telling them to slow down. I said I’d rather be in the police station than dead.”

Mr Fricker’s cause of death was given as subarachnoid and intracerebral bleeding brought about by traumatic brain injury.

Two toxicology tests revealed alcohol and cannabis in his blood.

PC Colin Whaley, from the Tactical Vehicle Crime Unit at Greater Manchester Police (GMP), was heading back to Eccles via the motorway in an unmarked police car when he spotted the Micra in front of him.

PC Whaley, an advanced police driver for 11 years, said: “Initially, it was the speed it was travelling that drew my attention to it, then the manner which it turned around.”

He said it was not his intention to pursue the vehicle but it developed into a pursuit by the time they reached Denshaw.

He said he was forced to reach speeds of 80mph to keep up with the car.

During the inquest, Oldham coroner Simon Nelson issued a warrant for the arrest of James Peters who had been called as a witness but failed to attend.

Proceeding.