FOUR families were ripped apart when a car plummeted down a disused quarry, killing all four occupants, an inquest heard yesterday.

Coroner David Bowen recorded verdicts of misadventure on disabled driver Jack Magee, 47, and his three passengers, 29-year-old Shane Powell, 21-year-old Alex Williams and Karl Devlin, who was 19.

In a statement, which was read to the inquest, Matthew Brimble said Karl was at his house when a BMW pulled up outside.

Alex Williams and Shane Powell were already in the car. The driver was Jack Magee.

Alex told Karl they needed a telephone number to buy drugs and he went with the others in the BMW. Matthew said that was the last time he saw them.

The statement of Anthony Mark Jones, the manager of an HGV employment agency, was also read to the hearing in Newport.

At one point on the road, the BMW had overtaken him and three other vehicles at speed in a manner which he described as "impatient, bordering on dangerous".

Following the accident on October 20 last year PC Keith Calcott examined the car, which had adaptations for disability because Mr Magee was a paraplegic, the day after the crash and found no defects.

Collision investigation expert PC Wayne Poulton concluded that the car had changed to a low gear as the driver accelerated into a bend. Mr Magee lost control of the vehicle, which mounted the pavement, hitting and uprooting several concrete posts.

The car rotated about 180 degrees and was moving backwards when it rolled on to its side and then its roof.

After knocking down about 16 metres of barrier, the car rolled down the steep embankment and went through a fence at the top of the quarry before sliding over the edge down a 25-metre vertical drop, landing on its roof.

PC Boulton also told the inquest that a bong, used for drugs, was found at the scene.

Mr Bowen gave brief details of the Home Office pathologist's report but told distraught relatives that it was likely the four men died instantly. He also read the statements of toxicologists, which showed that prior to death Mr Magee, Mr Devlin and Mr Williams had ingested opiates, while Mr Magee had also taken cannabis. Tests showed methadone and diazepam in Mr Powell's body.

Mr Bowen said opiates and cannabis were considered to be liable to impair the ability to drive, but only the occupants of the car could know if that was the case.

Erratic driving may be evidence to support impairment, he said, but could also be nothing more than showing off the performance of a recently acquired car to friends.

He was satisfied that the loss of control was a result of a deliberate action by Mr Magee, but the consequences of that action were not intended by him.

He added that if he had been sure that his driving had been affected by the drugs, he would have recorded verdicts of unlawful killing on the passengers.