Family pays tribute to 'kind-hearted' and 'cheeky' 26-year-old son from Northampton who died in fatal crash on busy road

The family of a 26-year-old man who died in a road traffic collision on a busy Northamptonshire road have paid tribute to their 'kind-hearted' son.

Former Northampton Academy student Benjamin Teague crashed his grey BMW 3 series into a blue Volkswagen ID4 at 9pm on Monday, August 2 2021 while overtaking vehicles on the A5 between Potterspury and Paulerspury, the inquest heard.

Mr Teague died at the scene as well as his 18-year-old passenger Annabelle Lovell, whom he was reportedly on a first date with.

The inquest into Mr Teague's death took place at The Guildhall in Northampton town centre on Wednesday afternoon (March 8).

Mr Teague's dad, Ian, paid tribute to his youngest son at the inquest.

He said: "We would describe Ben as a cheeky chap, very loving, extremely kind-hearted, adventurous, fun-loving and very loyal with a fantastic sense of humour. His smile was so infectious he would light up a room. He would do anything for anyone. Underneath the bravado he was an emotional lad.

"He had a natural flair for maths and numbers but enjoyed sport. He played football for Gregory Celtic...and was known for his tricks with the ball at his feet. He had a great love for the outdoors, cars and regularly attended car shows.

"On August 2, 2021 our lives were shattered, our hearts were broken and we were in a total state of shock and disbelief. We can't believe this has happened to us.

"We would speak to Ben most days. We facetimed Ben prior to him going out that night, he had his son Logan that morning...he had a sparkle in his eyes and a spring in his step, he said he was happy and he had a smile on his face – little did we know this is the last time speak to Ben. The hardest part is knowing that we will never speak with him or hear him again.

"We have lost a son. Dan has lost a younger brother. Logan has lost a dad.

"He touched so many hearts. We miss him so much. He will never be forgotten and we will make sure his memory will live on forever.

"Our heartfelt thoughts go out to all the other families affected by this tragedy."

Pathologist Dr Mike Briggs confirmed that Mr Teague's cause of death was due to a head injury and said the alcohol and cannabis in Mr Teague's system 'may have affected his driving performance'.

Northamptonshire Police's forensic collision investigator, John Underwood, told the inquest that Mr Teague was seen on CCTV doing close to 100mph and overtaking multiple vehicles just one mile before the fatal crash. The investigator went on to say the minimum speed of Mr Teague's car on impact with the Volkswagen ID4 was 87mph.

The Teague family asked Mr Underwood if potholes on the A5 could have played a part in the death of their son. Mr Underwood responded saying there is no evidence to suggest that was the case. Despite this, senior coroner Anne Pember said she will be writing to West Northants Council's highways agency demanding that the road be looked at 'imminently'.

The coroner said: "I feel I should write a letter, to prevent further deaths, to the highways agency to say this should be looked at imminently. It is my duty if a further death can be prevented."

The coroner concluded that Mr Teague's death was due to a road traffic collision.

She said: "Ben was only 26 years old and one would have hoped he had his whole life ahead of him."

Ben's ex-partner, Danielle, who is the mother of his baby, said in 2021: "He was a brilliant father and I'll always make sure Logan remembers his dad."Editor’s note – This article has been amended.Ben Teague inquest: An apologyAt the inquest touching the death of Annabelle Lovelle the report from toxicologist Paul Smith stated that at post mortem Mr Teague was found to have 80mg of alcohol/100 ml of blood and 93.5mg of cannabis/100ml of blood (Northampton Chronicle and Echo, March 8, 2023)Following the inquest of Miss Lovelle, concerns were raised about the alcohol and cannabis level found at post mortem. The coroner has informed us that Dr Smith provided addendum reports and in fact gave evidence via Zoom at the inquest touching the death of Ben Teague to apologise if he had misled the court. He gave evidence to the effect that given the period of 7 days between death and post mortem sample collection and possible disruption to the body of the deceased in the road traffic collision, it is …”possible that the ethanol measured in the post mortem blood, urine and vitreous samples has resulted from post mortem changes in whole or in part.”As regards the cannabis, Dr Smith at Ben Teague’s inquest, stated that although the post mortem concentration may not accurately reflect the ante mortem level at the time of the road traffic collision, the presence of a high level of THC in post mortem blood does indicate that the deceased had used cannabis in the hours prior to the accident.As a result, we confirm that our reporting of Ben Teague’s inquest was erroneous in that we did not accurately report the new evidence given by Dr Paul Smith.It also follows that our reporting on the coroner's Regulation 28 Report was also inaccurate as we referred to the evidence given at Annabelle Lovelle’s inquest rather than that corrected by Dr Smith at the inquest of Ben Teague.We apologise to Ben Teague's family for any distress caused.