AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into the death of a driver, 13 years after he was left for dead by classmates who had watched the horror movie Scream.

North Yorkshire Police are investigating why Ashley Murray’s silver Porsche Boxster careered off the A61, in Pannal, Harrogate , on Saturday, at 11pm, before crashing into a tree.

The 27-year-old, who had been left partially paralysed after being stabbed 18 times with a screwdriver and a knife by two friends in 1999, died at the scene.

A police spokesman said Mr Murray had overtaken a blue Citroen Picasso car, shortly before the crash, while heading south and that the investigation would include a full study of the road conditions.

Mr Murray’s friends and family were yesterday struggling to come to terms with his death, and paid tribute to his enthusiasm for life and courage following the attack at Birk Crag nature reserve.

A spokesman for CCI distribution, in Hornbeam Park, Harrogate, where Mr Murray started his career in sales three years ago, said colleagues were devastated over his death and held a minute’s silence for him yesterday.

He said: “Ash was a very special person who had somehow survived an horrendous experience in his early teens and was building a great career at CCI. Not only was he a major asset to our company, more importantly he was a fine young man with very high standards of personal integrity, who consistently went out of his way to help others.”

Pat Hunter, Rossett School headteacher, said staff remembered Mr Murray as a remarkably “happy and resilient lad”.

He said: “Ashley’s determination saw him come back and do really well – which makes this all the more tragic.”

Daniel Gill, 14, and Robert Fuller, 15, both of Harrogate, were jailed for luring Mr Murray, then aged 13, to the beauty spot hours after watching the horror film Scream, carrying out a frenzied attack and wrapping him in a bin bag.

He was discovered 40 hours later by a dog walker paralysed and suffering from the stab wounds, a collapsed lung, broken ribs, frostbite and hypothermia, after surviving by licking rainwater off his jacket.

Mr Murray had numerous operations during a lengthy battle to regain his health and on his return to Rossett School, a nurse sat with him in class due to the emotional scarring.

Despite a campaign to deny his attackers parole, Gill and Fuller were released after serving three years in prison.

Police are appealing for anyone with information about the crash to call 101 and select option two.