A British teenager died in a horror crash when a jeep being driven by a convicted murderer who was involved in the UK’s first ever lesbian prison wedding overturned.
Luke Hall, 18, was a passenger in the rented open-top 4×4 driven by Zara Crane-Davies, 40, when it hit a kerb, a motorbike and then a wall in Greece.
The vehicle careered off the road and landed in an empty field on Crete, instantly killing Mr Hall and Crane-Davies, an inquest at Bradford Coroners’ Court heard.
Another passenger, Louise Waddington, 39, who was living with Crane-Davies, suffered severe injuries, while an unidentified 18-year-old man escaped unhurt.
Luke Hall, 18, was a passenger in the rented open-top 4×4 driven by Zara Crane-Davies (pictured), 40, when it hit a kerb, a motorbike and then a wall in Greece
The vehicle careered off the road and landed in an empty field on Crete, instantly killing Mr Hall (pictured) and Crane-Davies, an inquest at Bradford Coroners’ Court heard
Speaking at the inquest today, his ‘devastated’ mother Anne Hall said she could not excuse herself for letting him go away on the trip.
She had hauntingly told Mr Hall to ‘stay safe and come home in one piece’ in a Facebook post before he went on the holiday.
She told the court: ‘It’s just absolutely devastating as a family. It was the first time he’d ever gone on holiday on his own, and I will never forgive myself – I wish I had talked him out of it.’
The crash was at at 6.05am on the final day of the apprentice joiner’s two-week island getaway.
The apprentice builder from Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, had flown to the island with three friends for the trip and was said to be in constant contact with his parents.
Another passenger, Louise Waddington, 39, who was living with Crane-Davies (pictured), suffered severe injuries, while an unidentified 18-year-old man escaped unhurt
The inquest heard how he had met the two women in a club in Malia, between July 7 and the early hours of July 8, 2019.
He was travelling back to their Stalida apartment in the rear seat of the car when the crash occurred and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination conducted by a Greek pathologist listed his cause of death as a fatal injury to the ‘cross-section of the stem neck’.
Senior coroner Martin Fleming said Luke may have suffered a possible ‘trauma to the brain’ or a ‘fatal spinal injury’.
He added he would have passed away ‘so rapidly that he wouldn’t have known in the moment.’
An inquest into Crane-Davies’ death, held earlier this year, heard she was found to have amphetamines present in her system at the time of the crash.
Senior Coroner Nigel Meadows said then there was inconclusive evidence to suggest if the amphetamines in Crane-Davies’s system contributed to her death.
While agreeing with the findings, Mr Fleming today said the drugs may still have contributed in some way to the incident.
He said: ‘I take cognisance of the fact that she did have drugs inside her and they must have played some part in the incident.’
Two years on, Mr Fleming said the teen’s parents were still trying to come to terms with the loss of their son.
His mother in particular broke down as she described his character, hopes for the future and past achievements at school.
When she was in jail, she made history by being in the first-ever lesbian prison wedding, marrying convicted drug dealer Joanne Crane-Davies (pictured together), 46, in 2010
She added: ‘He was liked, he was honest, he was funny and also loving. He worked from being 15 years old. He was very good at school. He was so intelligent.
‘He left school and went to one interview and got the job. He just loved working hard and getting his own money.
‘He got an apprenticeship. He was planning to be a joiner. He wanted to have his own business.
‘He even specified how many children he would have. He was going to get married. He would have been an amazing father – that’s just the kind of person he was.
‘He loved his football – he was captain of the football team. He kept himself fit, and he was never in trouble with the police.’
She added: He didn’t do drugs. I couldn’t have asked for a better son.’
Mr Hall had opted to go on the holiday with three friends instead of a tour with Dewsbury Rangers Amateur Football Club, to Germany.
His teammates were said to be ‘heartbroken’ when news first broke of his death.
Recording Mr Hall’s death as resulting from the injuries he sustained in the road traffic collision, Mr Fleming said it was clear he had touched many lives.
He said: ‘Luke was a much-loved son, brother and grandson. He touched the lives of many.
‘He was amazing, he was funny, and he came from a close family. He was a young man with aspirations and goals. He was embracing the life that he had.’
It was recorded at the inquest into Crane-Davies’s death she also passed away as a result of the road traffic collision.
She was previously convicted of murder in 2003 after she fatally stabbed her neighbour David Thompson, 37, following a row.
When she was in jail, she made history by being involved in the first-ever lesbian prison wedding, marrying convicted drug dealer Joanne Crane-Davies, 46, in February 2010.
She later became a successful entrepreneur as director of Social investor CIC and in 2018 was named Mentor of the Year at the Northern Power Women Awards.
In 2019, she was named Chief Operating Officer of the Resume Foundation, which helps marginalised individuals to find work.