Two men who died in a serious car crash in Essex were not found for hours despite a police search at the scene, a court heard. Barry Turner and Stephen Bayford suffered traumatic injuries when BMW they were on spun off Tillingham Road near Asheldham last year.

Mr Turner, 46, who was driving the car, and Mr Bayford, 32, in the passenger seat, had both been heavily under the influence of alcohol and cocaine when the crash happened shortly before 4am on the morning of September 21, 2021. Mr Turner lost control of the grey BMW when it collided with hedges and then trees on a bend in the road.

The car crashed through hedges and shrubbery causing serious damage including a wheel coming off before it ended up partly submerged in a duck pond at the bottom of a ditch. The crash triggered technology within the car to send an emergency call to a switchboard for Bosch, which then tried to get hold of the car’s owner.

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When the switchboard couldn’t get a response, the police were called, but instead of the call handler sending officers straight to the Dengie, police were initially sent to the wrong Tillingham Road in Waltham Abbey at 4.07am. The handler, then seeing that the vehicle was registered to an address in Maldon, alerted local police in the district who were on a routine patrol to the correct road, and they arrived at the scene at 4.16am.

However, despite the officers’ searching the area, they could not locate the BMW. Later that morning, the landowner of the pond where the wreckage lay discovered the vehicle and the men, calling the police immediately. Tragically neither could be saved and they were declared dead at 12.45pm that afternoon.

The inquest into the two men’s death was held at Essex Coroner’s Court in Chelmsford on Monday (May 30). Senior investigating officer Adam Marks from Essex Police told the court that from analysis of limited CCTV footage and the scene of the crash, officers estimated that Mr Turner had been driving between 91 and 113 miles an hour at the point of impact.

Senior Coroner Lincoln Brookes read out a witness statement from Martin Morgan, the landowner who discovered the wreckage of the car, who woke to the sound of a “loud bang” around 4am but then went back to sleep. He said: “No one from the road would have seen the car, it would have flown here to be honest. I woke up, checked the weather app on the phone and saw no storms forecast.

“But it was not rare for the animals to make noise. Having listened for a couple of minutes and heard nothing but the absolute silence, I went back to sleep, but decided to go outside in the morning and check more thoroughly.”

Officer Marks told the court: “It breached the hedge 25 metres to the south of where the car laid. The vehicle must have somersaulted so the vehicle couldn’t be seen from the road.” Officer Marks was asked by the coroner if there had been any investigation into why the car had not been initially found by the attending police.

He said: “The Independent Office of Police Conduct [IOPC] investigated and handed it back to Essex Police. That investigation is still ongoing with our complaints department.” Coroner Brookes told the court he thought it unlikely that if officers had managed to find the car earlier it would have mattered, given the extent of the men’s injuries. Officer Marks replied: “It seems unlikely, if there was signs of life, the Bosch system would have picked it up.”

Coroner Brookes then read evidence from the pathologist’s report into both men’s deaths. He told the court both Mr Turner and Mr Bayford had cocaine and alcohol in their system, and both had more than 200 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, which is more than twice the drink-drive limit. The pathologist concluded Mr Turner, who had not been wearing a seatbelt, died from traumatic head injuries caused by alcohol and cocaine intoxication, while Mr Bayford had died from multiple traumatic injuries.

‘Both men will leave huge holes in people’s lives’

The family of Barry Turner had a devastating statement read to the court by Coroner Brookes. They said: “Barry Turner, 46 years of age was tragically killed in a road crash on the morning of September 21, 2021. Barry was a dearly loved son, brother, uncle and dad and also a friend to everyone that knew him.

“Barry worked as a scaffolder. Barry enjoyed jet skiing, his speed boat, football and Judo. The family will greatly miss Barry and he will be sadly missed by all.”

Stephen Bayford’s step father told the court that he had long lived with difficulties of drug addiction and had been in and out of rehab before the incident, but had sadly relapsed. He said Mr Bayford had also endured the loss of his mother in the same year to illness.

Coroner Brookes in his conclusion said that both men had died as a result of a road traffic collision. He said the consuming drugs and alcohol and then driving had been “reckless”, however, he expressed sincere condolences to the families of both men.

He told them: “I hope this investigation and the hearing itself has answered some of the questions the family have when suffering such a bereavement. I offer my deepest condolences to all of you here today and those who can’t be here. They must have left huge holes in everyone’s lives.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “There was a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following the incident. After reviewing, they instructed a local investigation. Our local investigation remains ongoing and as such, we will not be commenting further at this time.”