A 22-YEAR-OLD Tidworth man who died after a high-speed crash with an oncoming vehicle had his “young life cut short”, a coroner has said.

Grahame Short ruled that Chris Guilford’s death was as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic collision near Great Shoddesden in January.

An inquest heard last week how the 22-year-old lost control of his Peugeot 206 at around 5.30pm on 13 January as he negotiated a slight bend on the unnamed 60mph road, which runs between Weyhill and Tidworth.

According to reports, Mr Guilford attempted to correct his skid, but instead moved onto the opposite carriageway and collided with an oncoming Ford Cougar.

Passers-by attempted to haul an unconscious Mr Guilford from the wreckage following the crash.

However Mr Guilford, a landscaper by trade, died before he could be extricated.

The driver of the other vehicle, Thomas Basford, attended the inquest to give his account of the incident.

Mr Basford, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), told the coroner that he was returning home from work in Tidworth when he was involved in the crash.

He recalled how he had noticed a pair of headlights coming towards him and thought they were on his side of the road.

Mr Basford said he began to decelerate before noticing the headlights “zig-zagging” from left to right as the car approached.

He said: “I thought that he might be out of control.

“I could see his headlights moving from side-to-side. I believe it’s called fishtailing.

“As his headlights got closer I remember thinking there was nowhere I could go.

“Then I realised we were going to hit.”

After freeing himself from his vehicle, Mr Basford immediately went over to help Mr Guilford, but received no response.

Robert Tugwell, a passer-by, found Mr Guilford alive with a pulse, though unconscious and seriously injured.

On the agreement of the emergency services, Mr Tugwell attempted to remove the 22-year-old from the vehicle, only to discover he was trapped by his legs and seatbelt.

Mr Tugwell said that Mr Guilford died soon afterwards.

According to pathologist Hayley Burnley, the 22-year-old’s death was due to the multiple injuries sustained in the crash.

These included a lacerations to his liver, spleen and kidney, as well as a haemorrhage to his heart.

The crash was later investigated by Hampshire Constabulary’s Forensic Collision Investigator, PC Anthony Clifford, who used both damaged vehicles to reconstruct the incident.

His analysis supported the statement of Mr Basford and he agreed that Mr Guilford had likely suffered “oversteer” after misjudging the bend.

He added that Mr Guilford would have likely reacted against the movement of his car and this could have sent him into a spin.

Although he was unable to determine the exact speed of Mr Guilford’s car, he said it would have been “faster” than that of Mr Basford’s.

Mr Clifford added that the Peugeot had hit Mr Basford’s car at a “90 degree angle” and suffered “massive damage” in the crash.

He later quoted a toxicology report, showing that Mr Guilford had a small amount of alcohol in his blood at the time of the crash.

According to accounts from the evening, this came from a single pint of Guinness that Mr Guilford had consumed 30 minutes earlier while with friends at the Bell Inn on Weyhill Road.

Concluding, Mr Short said he believed the alcohol and the speed of Mr Guilford’s vehicle were both factors in the cause of the crash.

He said: “His blood alcohol level was below the drink drive limit, but even so I find that his driving would have been impaired by the effects of alcohol.

“It has not been possible to establish the speed in which he was travelling, but I’m satisfied that it was too fast for the left hand bend that he had to negotiate safely.

“His speed and the effects of alcohol seem to be the major components for the loss of control.”

After ruling his death as a road traffic collision, Mr Short offered his condolences to Mr Guilford’s attending family and friends.

The coroner added: “This was a young life cut short in what must have been a terrible shock to all of you.”