A Nottingham teenager was driving his car fast "like he was in a game" just moments before crashing into a tree and losing his life.

Yazan Al-Jalam, who was 16 when he died, was accompanied by two friends when the collision took place on Radcliffe Road in West Bridgford just before 9pm on March 17.

An inquest into his death was held at Nottingham Coroner's Court by the assistant coroner for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, Nathanael Hartley, on Monday, October 13.

The hearing was told the teenager was driving a black Honda Civic at speed, going from Nottingham towards Gamston.

The boy, from the Meadows, had only had the car for a few days before the collision, the court heard.

One of Yazan's friends, who was in one of the rear passenger seats, described how the teenager "was properly putting his foot down" and was "driving so fast he [the friend] felt the car lose control".

The same friend added that Yazan was "driving fast like he was in a game" and tried to tell him to slow down as the car was going "too fast around curbs" when he could see Yazan "panicking".

The other friend, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and with whom Yazan was "inseparable", described Yazan's driving as OK and sensible" but explained he "could sometimes put his foot down".

In his witness statement to the police, the teenager added: "As the car went round the bend, Yazan still had his foot down and then lost control of the steering wheel. He tried to stop it but it was slipping through his hands."

Yazan's manner of driving has been described as "poor", with the coroner told that Yazan had also undertaken a car in the minutes leading to the crash, rather than overtaking it, which is generally illegal.

DC Emma Temple of Nottinghamshire Police told the coroner that no CCTV captured the collision itself, but that Yazan can be seen speeding before the crash.

She said: "He was driving the car while underage. The car was not insured. It's registered to an address that does exist but we couldn't make contact with any of the occupants even though we made numerous attempts.

"The name of the registered keeper is not linked to that address and does not exist. The person who sold Yazan the car was not registered, insured or linked to the vehicle. We could not link the vehicle to anyone who directly sold it to Yazan."

Alexander Holmes, forensic collision investigator at the force, explained that there was no evidence showing seatbelts were being worn at the time of the crash.

Yazan was driving "significantly faster than other vehicles", travelling "at least double the speed limit", in the region of at least 55-60mph, and was also going at speed when going around a bend right before the crash.

The speed limit on Radcliffe Road is 30mph.

Investigator Holmes said: "There's a theoretical speed a vehicle can travel around a bend and when the vehicle gets close to or at that speed, the vehicle can become very sensitive to steering.

"The driver might feel like the car is not going in the direction they want. It's likely his lack of experience could have contributed to the collision."

No defects were found on the car that could have contributed to the crash, investigator Holmes added.

The inquest also heard how Yazan and the front seat passenger had to be extricated by emergency services, while the rear passenger was helped out by members of the public.

No significant toxicology findings were made during the post-mortem examination. The death was caused by multiple fatal injuries.

Coroner Hartley said: "There are no other lines of inquiry that I would expect the police to carry out. The precise reason for Yazan losing control of the vehicle is unknown.

"But the speed was unsuitable for the conditions, which no doubt played a significant role in him losing control of the car. There's no evidence that a third party was involved in the collision."

The coroner recorded a short-form conclusion of "road traffic collision".

Yazan's father, who together with Yazan's mother and his brother attended the hearing, said: "Every day my family visits the scene where my son died. I brought my son here to keep him away from death at home in Syria."

Boy, 16, was driving car 'like he was in a game' moments before fatal crash - Nottinghamshire Live