A tragic teenager swapped seats with his friend just minutes before crashing his van during a police chase, an inquest heard.
Thomas Patrick Connor, known to loved ones as Tull, was driving the Vauxhall Astra van when it careered into a railway bridge on Red Bank in Manchester city centre.
According to Manchester Evening News, the vehicle was being pursued by Greater Manchester Police officers who mistakenly though it had been involved in a robbery.
Although the 19-year-old was behind the wheel at the time of the fatal accident, his pal had been in the driver's seat when the chase started, a jury at Manchester Coroner's Court heard.
Thomas Price, who was 17 at the time of the tragedy in April 2019, had been behind the wheel when the van was asked to stop.
He did not have a driving licence and had already been disqualified from driving following a previous offence, the court heard.
Following the crash, Price lied to police, telling them that Tull had been driving for the entirety of the chase.
But his lies were untangled after CCTV enquiries later established he'd been driving for the first part of the pursuit, before switching over with Tull after the van got a flat tyre.
In the hours before the crash, the pair had visited Steven Charles Snooker Centre in Cheetham Hill Road.
The inquest heard that the pair had been drinking beer, although a member of staff said Tull seemed 'normal' and did not appear to be drunk.
After leaving the venue, Mr Connor and Price visited a Co-op store in the Green Quarter at about 10.45pm, where they purchased more beer.
During a police interview, which was read out to the court, Price said he had 'panicked' when asked why he initially lied to officers about his role in the chase.
"I believed the car to be Thomas' car. He was my friend and I had known him a good while," Price said in his interview.
"Thomas Connor drove to the co-op. I said give me the key because I wanted to sit in the van. I don't know what went through my mind to jump in the driver's side."
The police officer conducting the interview asked Price on a scale of zero being sober and 10 being paralytic, how drunk he was that evening.
"I wasn’t paralytic. I was drunk but not paralytic. Probably about a six," he said.
"I had drunk five pints of Heineken but I am not a big drinker."
Price told detectives he had been behind the wheel when they saw a female street worker, who informed them that they'd seen police in the area.
"I saw a Panda car at the top of the road," Price said.
"I turned right and went down a bit and they came behind me. There were blue lights. I couldn't really hear any sirens.
"I panicked. We just took off. There wasn't hardly a word. The pair of us were in shock because it had never happened to us before.
"I just kept going and then I remember hitting some curb with it. I went left into the estate and parked the van up.
"I knew I had popped the tyre. I looked at it and felt it was soft."
Price told investigating officers that he began to walk away from the van, but claimed Tull wanted to get back in the vehicle.
"I told him I would fix it in the morning but he said no. He wanted to drive so we started again from there," he said.
"I don’t know why I jumped in the car. I was drinking. It was a stupid idea and I shouldn’t have done it."
The inquest heard that as Tull drove the Vauxhall in the direction they had just come from, they were spotted by the same police car and the chase restarted.
Now driving with a flat tyre, just minutes later, the van smashed into the bridge - leaving Mr Connor with catastrophic injuries.
Emergency services performed CPR on him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Price was arrested nearby and taken to hospital after being found hiding inside an industrial bin, having fled the scene of the smash.
He was later charged with dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and failing to stop for police.
On November 18, 2019 he was sentenced at Manchester Magistrates Court to a youth rehabilitation order, 100 hours unpaid work and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
The jury was told that unlike Price, Mr Connor did have a licence and was insured to drive the vehicle.
PC Robert Wilson, a Forensic Collision Investigator, told the inquest the van had been travelling at a speed of around 49mph shortly before it collided with the bridge on Red Bank.
"The driver was unable to negotiate the left hand bend and it struck the curb and collided with a concrete pillar," he said.
"There was no evidence to suggest any emergency braking. Had it been applied it would not have made much difference because of the failed tyre.
"I would not have driven on a tyre that is degraded to such an extent I would say that is dangerous."
Mr Wilson said he believed the deflated tyre was a significant factor in the crash.
PC James Forshaw had been on patrol in the area and said he suspected Mr Connor's vehicle might have been involved in a commercial burglary nearby.
He told the inquest he attempted to stop the Vauxhall along Broughton Road in Cheetham Hill, but it sped away in the direction of Waterloo Road.
Mr Connor's family have raised concerns about whether the decision to continue with the chase was proportionate, particularly after the van had developed a flat tyre.
Bodycam footage of the chase was played to the jury, during which PC Forshaw could be heard shouting 'you f*****g t**t, where is he going.'
Representing Mr Connor's family, Sam Harmel put to PC Forshaw: " My understanding was part of the policy is to avoid a red mist descending.
"You are supposed to take a step back and constantly assess the risks. Do you think you did this?"
PC Forshaw replied: "Yes. As short as the pursuit was."
Mr Harmel continued: "I am going to suggest it was disproportionate action. Both the first and second pursuit were not proportionate action to a suspected burglary."
PC Forshaw responded: "I would disagree with that. They had a choice. They could have stopped but they carried on driving for reasons which only they could explain."
Mr Harmel put forward a submission on behalf of the family that PC Forshaw could have stopped and should have stopped the pursuit before the crash occurred.
To which PC Forshaw said: "I was going on the suspicion that they were involved in a burglary. The fact they drove off from me arose my suspicion more."
Following the incident, a mandatory referral was made by Greater Manchester Police to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) who carried out an investigation.
IOPC investigator, Colin Bishop said he had "not identified that the officer committed any criminal offence or breached the professional standards" set by the force.
Tull was the youngest of eight siblings, and had been staying on a traveller site on Dantzic Street, just yards from the scene of the crash, at the time of his death.
His sister, Laura Kelbie, told the hearing at Manchester Coroner's Court that he was employed as a landscape gardener and had been planning to move to Australia.
Ms Kelbie revealed that she had brought up Tull, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, after he lost both his mother and father as a child.
