A DRIVER who was killed in a 100mph crash as he fled from pursuing police was more than four

times over the drink-drive limit, an inquest heard yesterday.

Raymond Smith, 27, ended up being followed by police after they became suspicious of his driving.

Moments later, he crashed head-on into a car driven by a doctor's receptionist, severely injuring her and killing himself.

East Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford heard that Mr Smith was spotted in his red Ford Escort car by police on two separate occasions in Spencers Wood on August 30, and drove off at speed

both times.

On the second occasion officers followed him.

PC Benjamin Dobbs told the inquest he saw the Escort parked on the side of Hyde End Road and pulled up alongside it.

He said: "He immediately drove off at speed.

"These actions aroused our suspicions so we started to follow him and put the blue lights on.

"As we continued along the road we lost sight of him but as we turned the bend we could see the tail lights ahead of us.

"I was doing about 80mph and he was still pulling away faster."

The pursuit came to an end when the officers turned a corner and ran into a cloud of dust.

Pc Dobbs said the first car he saw was a seriously damaged blue VW Golf estate with a woman in the driver's seat. The driver, doctor's receptionist Lesley Davies, 38, told the inquest in Windsor how she was driving home from a leaving party at a nearby pub.

"I drove down the road at about 30mph and was only 100 yards from my house when I became aware of a car driving towards me," she said.

"It appeared to have its lights on full beam and to be driving fast on the incorrect side of the road.

"The next thing I remember was trying to catch my breath after the airbag went off.

"I realised I had been in an accident and I was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital. I don't remember anything else."

Mrs Davies, from Spencers Wood, was trapped in the wreckage for more than an hour and suffered two broken legs, a broken collar bone and head injuries.

Mr Smith, of Clements Close, Spencers Wood, was declared dead at the scene of the crash and a post-mortem examination revealed he had 350 milligrammes of alcohol in his blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres.

The inquest heard that his main blood vessel to the heart was ruptured in the crash, killing him. It was also discovered that he had not been wearing a seat belt.

Police told the coroner that at the point of impact on a bend on the wrong side of the road, the speedometer on Mr Smith's car had locked

at 87mph.

His girlfriend, Rachel Jones, sobbed as the inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure.