Chester teenager who died in A41 horror smash did not have a full driving licence

Aug 18 2011 by Gary Porter, Chester Chronicle

jackmckenzie

A TEENAGER who died in a horror smash on the A41 near Waverton did not have a full driving licence.

Jack McKenzie, 18, of Richmond Crescent, Vicars Cross, was only a provisional licence holder and had yet to pass a driving test.

The former Bishops’ Blue Coat High School student was driving a car belonging to his mum’s partner when the two-vehicle crash happened on the A41 Whitchurch Road at Hatton Heath at 11.20am on Friday.

He and his friend Chris Humphreys, also 18 and from Saltney, were travelling in a blue Vauxhall Astra towards Chester when they collided with a silver Volkswagen Transporter driving in the opposite direction.

Jack had a heart attack at the scene and later died in hospital.

Chris, who is also a former Bishops’ Blue Coat pupil and works as a waiter at Chester Racecourse, suffered multiple fractures.

The 51-year-old van driver from Bolton suffered a serious leg injury and had to be cut free from his vehicle by firefighters.

Both are described as being in a ‘stable condition’ in hospital.

Cheshire Police spokeswoman Shelley Williams said: “Enquiries into the circumstances of the collision so far indicate that the deceased was a provisional licence holder.

“As we believe he was driving the car unsupervised at the time of the collision, it is possible he was not adhering to the terms of his licence.

“The car he was driving belonged to his mother’s partner.”

Police are appealing for witnesses to the crash or anyone who may have seen the vehicles prior to the collision to call Constable Russell Sime at the Roads Policing Unit at Chester on 0845 458 0000, quoting incident number 355 of August 12.

The inquest was opened and adjourned on Wednesday (August 17).