A VERDICT of accidental death was returned on a Malvern teenager who died when a stolen car crashed.

John Smith, aged 14, of Clare Road, suffered multiple injuries in the crash on the A44 just outside Evesham on Saturday, September 1, 2001. A police car was following at the time.

A jury at Worcestershire County Coroners' Court, in Stourport, reached the verdict after hearing three days of evidence.

Smith, with another boy, had run away from a care home and stolen a Ford Escort in Malvern.

Witnesses described how the car was driven erratically, forced one driver into a roundabout, sped through Pershore town centre at up to 80mph and hit another car twice.

At 8.17am, the car smashed into a lorry, ripping off its roof. The lorry driver described a "white flash and a really loud explosion" as it hit. An ambulance technician said the the scene was "absolute carnage".

Sgt Mark Underhill, who followed the stolen Escort from Pershore, said at no time did it become a "pursuit situation".

He said it was his intention to maintain a safe distance, which on long straight stretches of road had been about half a mile. At the time of the crash, accident investigators estimated he was around 90 metres from the car.

PC David Holland said Smith and the other boy - named only as K - had escaped from a children's home in Evesham the previous night.

They stole a pick-up truck, which was found crashed and abandoned, before they stole the Escort from Malvern.

In a statement, K said he believed they had been chased by police.

However, after less than an hour's deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.