A woman has spoken of her terror before the overloaded car she was a passenger in crashed at 100mph on Christmas Day, killing her friend.
Drink driver Charlie Hilton, 25, was chased by police before his Mercedes hit a tree, flipped over and burst into flames early on December 25, 2021.
Lillie Clack, 21, was fatally injured and died days later.
The friends had been enjoying the Winter Wonderland attraction in the West End and visited a pub in Morden before accepting a lift home from Hilton in his mother’s car.
Residents in Beeches Avenue, Carshalton, south London, grabbed fire extinguishers and rushed to help.
Delia Casey, who was in the front passenger seat next to Hilton and one of six in the vehicle, believed the whole incident lasted “a few seconds”, remembering hitting her head on the roof and little else afterwards.
“Everyone was shouting inside the car,” she said.
“There was a lot going on and I was just feeling fearful for everyone in the car.
“The speed we were going at made me feel terrified. It was all happening in what seemed like a few seconds.
Debbie Clack at a earlier hearing
PA
“It feels like a blur. Even after I visited Lily’s tree [set up in her memory], I still have no memory of the accident.”
Ms Clack’s mother Debbie sat in a front row of the inquest at Croydon Town Hall with a large framed picture of her daughter.
Her boyfriend Jack Watson told the hearing he had begged the driver to stop.
South London Assistant Coroner Sebastian Naughton is hearing evidence from three Metropolitan Police officers involved in the pursuit of Hilton and a control room witness.
At the time, Hilton, who lived on a caravan park in Tadworth, Surrey, was over the drink-drive limit and had overloaded the car with five passengers.
Hilton had 11 previous convictions, including for motoring offences, and had been jailed for 10 months for possession with intent to supply a psychoactive substance.
Mrs Clack, a dental nurse, described her popular, hard-working daughter as her “pride and joy”.
As a “beautiful” blonde and blue-eyed teenager, she had brought joy to children’s parties when she dressed as Disney princesses Cinderella and Elsa, she said.
The family is campaigning for Lillie’s Law which advocates for drivers found to be over the alcohol limit to have their license immediately suspended and lifetime bans for those convicted of causing death or serious injury while driving.
