Jake McLean, the ex-boyfriend of TOWIE star Lauren Goodger, was nearly three times over the drink-drive limit and also on cocaine on the fateful day he lost his life in a horror smash, an inquest heard.
The shocking crash happened when his Mercedes E-class careered off a bend and landed upside down in a ravine near the city of Bodrum in Turkey last year, also leaving passenger and The Only Way is Essex star Yazmin Oukhellou seriously hurt in hospital.
An inquest into Mr McClean’s death has since revealed he died of ‘traumatic head injuries’ due to the RTC.
Speaking at his inquest in Walthamstow last week, coroner Dr Shirley Ratcliffe said: ‘The post mortem found no natural disease, as you would expect in a young man of 33. The cause of death was skull fractures and brain damage.
As far as I can see, he was driving under the influence nearly three times over the legal limit for driving and had cocaine in his system. My conclusion is that this is an RTC.’
Lauren Goodger and Jake McClean dated from 2012 until 2016 with the former TOWIE star previously admitting she knew of her ex’s criminal wrongdoings and was willing to give him a chance
Yazmin Oukhellou was seriously injured in the crash and taken to hospital
The car after the accident on the bending road, which is notorious for a serious of deadly traffic accidents
When asked by Mr McClean’s mother Anita Walsh if there were any more details on what occurred before the crash, Dr Ratcliffe said: ‘Turkey is not the most helpful — it’s taken almost a year to get the post mortem.’
TOWIE star Lauren Goodger’s ex-boyfriend, 33, died from skull fractures and brain damage in horror crash while three times the drink-drive limit and with cocaine in his system, inquest hears.
The couple had been travelling in the early hours along a winding road that cuts through hills running from the scenic coastal city of Bodrum to the nearby picturesque seaside town of Yalikavak.
Plastic debris from the horrific crash lay scattered across the scene as tyre tracks were visible through bushes and scrubland showing where the car had careered off the road and then landed around 10 feet below in a ravine.
Prior to his involvement in the show, Mr McClean had a chequered past and was jailed for three-and-a-half years in 2008 after conning his way into a mother’s house and overpowering her before a masked gang ran in and raided the family home.
He reportedly tricked his way into the property pretending to be an estate agent.
Jake, who was 18 at the time, was part of a gang of six. The other five members ran into the home carrying imitation pistols and threatened to kill their victims if they screamed for help.
It is believed he only served half of his sentence and had been in prison for other convictions since. In 2018 he shared Instagram posts showing himself wearing a leg tag.
In 2013, Lauren, who met her former lover via Twitter, admitted she was aware of Jake’s criminal convictions but was willing to oversee his wrongdoings.
She said: ‘Jake told me about his past. I could see how much he regretted his actions. I try to take people as I find them.’
Yazmin Oukhellou made a full recovery from the crash and had cosmetic surgery to mask her injuries
Businessman Jake, 33, was killed instantly while Yazmin who was in the passenger seat was seriously injured
Following the accident Yazmin underwent a cosmetic procedure in London to improve her appearance of her injuries and recently opened up about the details of the terrible day.
She told The Sun: ‘I tried to wake Jake up, but he wasn’t waking. I tried to beep the horn with my foot, but I couldn’t reach it.
‘We were in the middle of nowhere and so screaming for help wasn’t any good. I knew I had to get out of the car and somehow I found the strength to free my arm by lifting it with my left hand, moving my right arm up and dropping it back down for what felt like forever until I snapped it free.’
She then found a man on the road to help her, but when paramedics arrived Yazmin said she ‘knew already in her gut that Jake had gone.’
Yazmin – who now suffers from PTSD, nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks – went on to explain that she now questions why she survived but he didn’t, saying she felt angry that he was gone but she was still here.
She also receives therapy for her anxiety after at the start thinking she would never get over it or be able to ‘unsee what she saw’.
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