Five stag party friends died in M25 tow-truck crash after driver had smoked cannabis, inquest hears

The driver of a recovery truck that crashed killing five members of a stag party - including two doctors - had earlier taken cannabis, an inquest heard yesterday.

Michael Hutchinson had used the drug in the "hours or days" before he smashed into the back of a lorry, a post mortem examination found.

Mr Hutchinson, 46, had collected the men when their hired minibus broke down on the way home from the pre-wedding jaunt.

Seven of the 13-strong group of friends, including the groom James Forrer, drove home in a people carrier. The remaining six travelled in Mr Hutchinson's pick-up truck with their minibus on the back.

Tragedy struck when the recovery vehicle careered into the back of a lorry on the M25, killing Mr Hutchinson and five of the stag group instantly. The only survivor from the recovery truck was the sixth member of the group, Dr Benjamin Pert. The driver of the lorry was unhurt.

One who died was best man Jon Chandler, 26, a guitarist and vocalist with up-and-coming Brightonbased band Mojo Fins whose debut single was about to be released.

The others were doctors Christopher Janaway, 28, and Matt O'Donnell, 30, sound engineer Rohan Chadwick, 27, and 29-year- old Andrew Graney, a software tester. All were from Brighton.

The crash happened near Leatherhead, Surrey, in the early hours of May 7 last year. The inquest in Woking heard that although Mr Hutchinson had taken cannabis, he was not thought to be under the influence of drugs at the time of the crash.

Forensic scientist Alan Hiscutt said he found small traces of cannabis in Mr Hutchinson's body. But he said the class C drug would not have been used in the time immediately before the crash.

He added: "It must have been taken at the very least many hours before or more likely days before. I would be as certain as I could be that he could not have been under the influence of cannabis."

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Dr Pert, the son of Leicester Crown Court judge Michael Pert, said the stag party broke down on the M1 near Rugby on their way home from a weekend in Leicestershire.

He and most of his friends were asleep when the recovery truck, sent by the AA from Rugby-based Dunchurch Motors, crashed. He said: "My first recollection was being made aware by the force and noise of the collision. There was a loud scraping sound and I had been thrown back and trapped in my chair."

Mr Hutchinson would work four 12-hour shifts in a row and then have two days off, according to his brother Mark, who said he was "very experienced and the best driver I knew". He was on the second of four shifts on the night he crashed.

Mr Forrer and his fiancee delayed their wedding after the crash but have since married. The inquest continues.