An inquest into the deaths of the members of British band Viola Beach has found that their manager had been driving in a "controlled manner" at the time of the crash.
All four members, Kris Leonard, River Reeves, Tomas Lowe and Jack Dakin, and their manager Craig Tarry, plunged to their deaths from a bridge in a tragic car accident in Sweden in February.
And a court heard during an inquest in their hometown of Warrington, Cheshire, North West England, on Wednesday (07.12.16) that there was "no evidence of drugs" and a "small amount of alcohol" consumed by the group.
While their manager, who was behind the wheel, had "no drugs and alcohol" in his system and had been "driving in a controlled manner".
However, it was reported that the Nissan Qashqai they were driving in exceeded the speed limit slightly as it was travelling at 108 kilometres in 100 kilometre zone.
BBC News reports that as they were approaching the bridge, warning signals were flashing as the bridge was raised.
The court also heard that Tarry drove on a verge and past traffic through a barrier, which was just 120 metres from the bridge itself, however, the car was being driven in a "controlled manner".
Tarry is then said to have driven through another barrier, bringing them to just 30 metres away from the bridge before they plummeted into the canal.
Post-mortem examinations found that Leonard, Reeves and Dakin died of head injuries, while Lowe drowned to death.
The court heard that three of the band members sat in the back of the 4×4 had no safety belts on, while the two in the front were belted up.
It was found that there was no errors with the vehicle or the bridge, however, one warning light out of at least 11 wasn’t working.
And while the road could have been slippery due to wet conditions, there was no ice.
Following the deaths of the band, their families released a statement, saying: "We are tremendously proud of everything the boys achieved in such a short space of time. Craig, Jack, Kris, River and Tom shared a huge passion, talent and dedication to music."
The group’s posthumous self-titled debut LP was number one in the UK charts and several tributes were made over the summer by Coldplay and Blossoms at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds Festivals respectively.
Viola Beach inquest reveals manager was driving in a ‘controlled manner’
