Inquest into death of Kirsty Bowen hears she was nearly three times drink drive limit before Bath death crash

An inquest has heard that an 18-year-old student who died when she lost control of her car had been nearly three times over the drink-drive limit.

Kirsty Bowen, from The Oval, was killed when the Peugeot 205 she was driving collided with a parked car in Weston, and overturned last October.

The coroner’s court at Flax Bourton heard that she had been celebrating her 18th birthday with a party at her house, and had been drinking.

In the early hours of the morning, the City of Bath College student had left the house with two friends in her car.

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Statements from both friends were read at the hearing, in which they said they felt she was driving too fast.

As she drove through Weston at Crown Road, Kirsty’s car clipped a kerb, which sent it spinning into a parked car before flipping over and landing on its roof.

The two passengers managed to escape unhurt but Kirsty suffered serious head injuries and died at the scene.

A post-mortem report found her to have 235 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, with the legal drink-drive limit being 80.

PC Mark Steadman from Avon and Somerset Police’s collision investigation team said that at this level her driving ability would have been affected.

Coroner Gail Elliman recorded a verdict of accidental death.

She said: “Kirsty Bowen died when she lost control of her car.

“She was not wearing a seat belt and was significantly over the drink-driving limit.”

Kirsty, a former pupil at Hayesfield School, had just started the second year of a health and social care course at the college, and wanted to be a midwife.

In 2004, when Kirsty was nine, she had been knocked down by a drink-driver in a horrific incident in Bath which broke her jaw and cheek.