A TEENAGER who died in a road crash was over the drink drive limit, an inquest heard.

David Jordan Nicholson, 19, was killed when his silver Peugeot 106 slid off an icy Stainland Road and smashed into a wall at 3am on January 30.

Toxicology reports revealed the youngster’s blood alcohol levels were equivalent to roughly four pints of beer when he died.

The unemployed labourer had been at a house party with friends in Stainland when he made the fatal decision to go for a drive with his friend Todd Baldwin.

But mum Deborah Nicholson said she could not accept that her son would drink and drive and suspected he had not known that he was unfit to drive.

The inquest at Calderdale Coroners Court yesterday heard that Mr Nicholson, of Halifax, had died from “non survivable” injuries including multiple skull fractures and brain injuries after his vehicle skidded into the dry-stone wall and landed on its driver’s side.

Friends of the deceased told coroner Roger Whittaker they had all been drinking and chatting at the Stainland home of Melissa Naylor.

Witnesses, Rebecca Fletcher, Jasmine Hanif, Sam Reid and Mark Gibson, all told the court they had seen Mr Nicholson drinking a can of Fosters lager.

Mr Nicholson’s best friend Todd Baldwin, who survived the fatal smash with only minor injuries, said they had brought a crate of 15 cans of Fosters with them to the party which were to share with others.

Mr Baldwin told the court the pair had intended to sleep on Ms Naylor’s couch and he could not remember why his friend had decided to drive.

“I wish I knew why we left,” he said, “all I remember is waking up to flashing lights really in shock.”

Robert Crispin, an accident investigator for West Yorkshire Police, said evidence from the scene indicated the driver had lost control as he took a left-hand bend going from Greetland to Stainland.

He said the car had slid across the pavement and smashed into a dry stone wall landing on the driver’s side.

Mr Crispin said there were frost patches on the road but conditions were not treacherous and the bend could be taken at 60mph on a dry day.

He said the speed of the car had frozen at 31mph at the point of impact with the wall, suggesting that Mr Nicholson had been travelling faster than the 30mph limit.

Analysis of CCTV footage from a nearby shop indicated Mr Nicholson was driving between 48mph and 54mph shortly before the crash.

In her statement to the court Mrs Nicholson said her son loved cars and was completely against drink driving.

She said: “David was not a drinker, he loved to drive and he wouldn’t put his licence at risk.

“On the night of his death if he had been aware he was drinking I’m sure he would have rung me (for a lift home).”

Speaking shortly after Mr Whittaker recorded a verdict of accidental death, Mrs Nicholson said she still disputed that her son had knowingly been drinking. She added: “David would never have done that.

“When the emergency services got to the scene there was no smell of alcohol.

“I think he had picked up the wrong drink or had his drink spiked but obviously I can’t prove that.

“It was so out of character, it’s hard to accept that my son would have got in that car.”