A teenager who died after losing control of his car took a picture of his speedometer reading 105mph minutes before the smash.
Billy Cooney, 19, who was twice the drink drive limit, died from serious head injuries after his Vauxhall Corsa ploughed into metal railings on a roundabout at the Oldham end of the A627M.
Forensic analysis of his Blackberry mobile phone showed a picture of the speedometer had been taken minutes before the car crashed at the Elk Mill roundabout in Royton in September 2010.
Mr Cooney, of Norfolk Crescent, Failsworth, had been on his way home from a night out. Police crash investigators said there was no evidence another vehicle was involved but Mr Cooney was found to be twice the drink-drive limit by a post-mortem blood test.
An inquest at Rochdale Coroners’ Court was told how Mr Cooney had probably lost control of the car close to a slip road before flipping 180 degrees and ploughing into metal railings.
A lorry driver and an off-duty police officer were first on the scene to try and help Mr Cooney who was unconscious in his vehicle. Police officers and paramedics arrived but Mr Cooney, who was studying at Bolton University, went into cardiac arrest while he was being freed from the wreckage.
He was rushed to Royal Oldham Hospital but died shortly after.
Sgt Garry Lyle, a crash scene investigator for Greater Manchester Police, told the inquest that pictures had been recovered from the mobile phone. He said one of the snaps showed the dashboard with speeds of 105mph taken at 4.59am.
He added: "I asked for the phone to be recovered to see if there were any phone clues, to see if there were any photos or records indicating if anybody was using the mobile phone at the time of the collision.
"The photos suggest quite a high speed."
Mr Cooney, a former Failsworth school pupil, had survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami while holidaying on the island of Ko Phi Phi in Thailand.
Tributes flooded in for ‘amazing Billy’ after the crash.
His former school said the teenager was a ‘loveable young man who always had a smile on his face’.
Michael Salt, assistant deputy coroner, recorded a verdict of accidental death.
He said: "As a result of the incident he sustained extensive head injuries and there’s no suggestion of any involvement of any third party vehicle.
"This enquiry heard evidence that the vehicle may have been travelling at high speeds and he may have consumed alcohol.
"Control of the vehicle was lost causing these injuries."
After the inquest, Mr Cooney’s sister, Vanessa, said: "We miss him, it’s turned our world upside down. He wasn’t a silly lad, it’s just one mistake."
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Boy drivers, speed and drink it's a dangerous combination, commiserations to this lads family - what a price to pay. I hope all the potential boy racers read this and learn, it's just not worth it,
Great lad, so sad. Peace be with you Billy.
Very sad, my thoughts go to his family.
This incident should be a lesson to those young drivers out there who drink and drive at excessive speeds. They aren't invincible. The life of a young man was lost here, and others could have been involved had people been in the car with him or in the vicinity of the crash.
I'd like to think young drivers will read this and drive more carefully but sadly, I doubt they will.
It's tragic that someone has died so young but he was the author of his own misfortune. Thankfully he didn't take anyone else with him.
Whilst it is always sad to read about the death of someone who had their whole life ahead of them, I'm sorry but as "amazing" and "loveable" as he may have been, he was twice the limit whilst driving at a ridiculous speed and taking a photo of it all at the same time (so that would be three counts of breaking the law). Would you still call him "amazing" and "loveable" if he had hit another car or innocent pedestrian and killed them?
Luckily no-one else was hurt but it could've been a very different story as too often these days we hear about innocent people having their lives taken away because some idiot thinks he/she can drive whilst drunk.
Well at least he didn't kill anybody else. Silly lad paid the ultimate price sadly. When will they ever learn? Time to raise the age you can drive?
Beeter to be too slow in this world than be too fast for the next one..
Everyone makes mistakes even more so when drunk. This couldnt of happend to a nicer person and it is heartbreaking for everyone who REALY knows him. He has left behind so many people left lost without him. Before you post unthoughtfull messages and judge his personality by this one MISTAKE think of the family who have to deal with this!
The thing is you can say he was lovely and it was one mistake but what if he'd killed more people? Kids, babies? It is a real shame and I feel for his family but what he did was incredible. I personally don't think you should be permitted to drive until you are mature enough to handle a car. 19 is too young.
Didn't know a Corsa was capable of doing 105 mph. You learn something every day !!
Firstly i must say how sad it was for Billy to lose his life in such a bad way it isnt ok to give bad comments and yes what must his poor parents and family are going through is unimagineable ,
But today teenagers think they are invincible.
Jayne W Oldham.
RIP Billy
We need a war so that the majority of people realise, a) just how fortunate we are to be alive and B) how precious life is.
I really hope people would stop slating my cousin, do you not think my family has been through enough?," Ivona Tinkle you need to get a life and stop publishing you thoughts on here and keep them to your self because they hurt a lot of people and don't really help anybody apart from your self", I don't see what you get out of it. Apart from upsetting are family.
I cant even believe the comments I am reading on here. It is funny really how all the people who have wrote such sick and nasty comments are either people who didnt know him or people who cant even leave their real name. People are stereotyping Billy from this article as a "boy racer" but if you actually knew him you would know he wernt a bad person, he was a lovely lad with everything going for him. I cant understand how people get satisfaction and humour out of a tragedy which ruined so many peoples lives. Billy was such a loved person in Failsworth by all his friends and family.
None of us have said that we think Billy was right for doing what he did but why waste your time saying "what if he had killed another person" because at the end of the day he didnt. This was nothing but a stupid stupid mistake and if any of us could turn back time we would.
Everyone is bound to have opinions because yous didnt know him but please keep them to yourselves, you are doing nothing but hurting his family and friends. Do you not think they have been through enough? Imagine if it was a member of your family.