A CORONER has said the death of a teenager who crashed a stolen quad bike may have been prevented if multiple decisions made by a “wide range of people” had been taken differently.

Assistant coroner, Oliver Longstaff, is expected to record a verdict today into the inquest of Dillon Turner, who died in Ingleton village, in Teesdale, on June 14, 2016.

Speaking ahead of the final hearing at Crook Coroner’s Court yesterday, Mr Longstaff said: “The evidence tends to suggest to me a number of circumstances and decisions by a wide range of people which, had they been taken differently, would probably have meant this death would not have occurred.”

Richard Copnall, the solicitor representing the 19-year-old’s family, gave closing submissions where he invited Mr Longstaff to consider whether Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, namely the Right to Life, had been breached.

He said he was specifically asking Mr Longstaff to consider whether the “operational duty” of both the North Yorkshire and Durham Police forces had breached Article 2 in that “police forces know, or ought to know, that there’s a real and immediate risk to life”.

He also asked Mr Longstaff to make a narrative verdict and consider any “judgemental findings” if he found Article 2 had been breached.

Closing submissions from solicitors representing both police forces are expected to be heard today.

The inquest has heard how Mr Turner was observed recovering the stolen quad bike from The Stang Forest, near Barnard Castle, hours after it had been found by North Yorkshire Police officers.

He was then followed into Teesdale and after a police stinger attempt failed, a pursuit ensued.

The pursuit lasted for about eight minutes before Mr Turner, of Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, crashed the quad bike into a lamp post in Ingleton.

Yesterday, Mr Longstaff heard from several witnesses including those in the control rooms of both police forces as well as the collision investigator PC Sarah Tribick.

Issues such as why there were radio communication failures between the two forces and the police helicopter were explored.

Footage of the crash from both the helicopter and a police was also replayed several times as PC Tribick, of Durham Police, gave her expert opinion on the final moments before the crash – something she said she could not draw an absolute conclusion from.