An inquest into the death of a man who died after a car being chased by police crashed has concluded his death was due to a road traffic collision.

Emergency services were called to Accrington Road in Hapton on the evening of July 18, 2021, and a man, aged 29, was airlifted to hospital with major head trauma.

Police confirmed the man, Imran Sultan, originally from Luton, died in Royal Preston Hospital around 1.40am the following day.

His female passenger was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Because the incident involved a police pursuit, carried out after Sultan refused to stop, Lancashire Police referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The inquest, held at Preston Coroner's Court this morning, heard a medical cause of death was offered as multiple injuries following the crash.

Toxicology found Mr Sultan had an amount of alcohol in his system over the legal limit, as well as traces of cannabis, but nothing majorly significant that would have hugely affected his reactions.

Giving evidence, forensic collision investigator, PC Paul Clarke, who attended the scene, said police had noticed a Nissan X-Trail being driven along the M65 in an erratic manner on July 18, 2021.

It was seen on the hard shoulder, cutting up traffic and was then noticed to be accelerating at high speeds.

PC Clarke said officers followed the driver, Imran Sultan, who took the M65 exit leading to the A56 towards Manchester, before speeding through narrow lanes and overtaking traffic on the wrong side of the road.

It was also heard Sultan did not have a licence and was not insured to be driving the car, which was possibly the reason he refused to stop for police.

Police continued to follow Sultan and witnessed him reaching speeds of more than 70mph, with it sometimes hitting 90mph, a speed which was noted on the police dashboard and dashcam footage as they were giving chase.

PC Clarke said officers were around 20 seconds behind Mr Sultan as the vehicle he was travelling in headed onto Accrington Road towards Hapton.

The gap in time was due to Sultan - known by his family as Mani - accelerating and overtaking other vehicles on the bend of a single track road, which police could not replicate as they were not able to see if the road was clear ahead, which would have put other road users at risk.

They had therefore been forced to hold back to prevent an accident.

PC Clarke told the inquest that as the Nissan accelerated ahead along Accrington Road, it took a bend and disappeared from sight, before taking a manoeuvre that resulted in it leaving the road, crashing through a fence and through some trees.

It was heard Sultan was unconscious almost immediately, with previous evidence from his passenger revealing he had apologised to her before the car left the carriageway.

Sultan’s family, who were appearing via a video link from Luton, expressed concerns, telling the inquest they believed the police car had forced his vehicle off the road.

They also told the coroner they had received a Snapchat from him showing his car reaching speeds of more than 100mph.

His family demanded to see dashcam footage of the events leading up to the crash, which was then shown in court.

The footage showed the vehicle entering the M65 at speed before being followed along the motorway close to Burnley, with the police car reaching speeds of more than 90mph as the Nissan sped ahead.

The Nissan then left the motorway and continued to speed along the A56 at more than 90mph, before coming off for the exit to Hapton.

Footage then showed Sultan travelling along Burnley Road overtaking vehicles at more than 100mph, before the Nissan drops out of sight as Burnley Road merges into Accrington Road.

The crash was not caught on the dashcam footage, but police arrived shortly after and can be seen getting out of their vehicle and heading to the crash site.

Concluding the inquest, Coroner Richard Taylor said: “Mr Sultan made a decision on July 18, 2021, that he was going to drive away from the police.

“Soon after at high speed he lost control. How that loss happened we can’t answer, but as I say, this is not a trial.

“Therefore I conclude Imran Sultan died at Royal Preston Hospital on July 19, 2021, from injuries sustained when he lost control of the vehicle he was driving on the A56 Accrington Road, which overturned after striking a fence and trees.

"And I record a road traffic collision conclusion."

At the time a fire service spokesperson said: "The police arrived very quickly, and it appeared a female passenger had walked away from the crash.

"The car was on its side and one other person, a male, had his leg trapped behind the steering wheel but he was in a very bad condition.

"We believe the man had a serious head injury and was in a very bad way."

An independent investigation was carried out by the IOPC after they received a mandatory referral from Lancashire Police and sent an investigator to the scene of the collision.

It is expected the outcome of the IOPC investigation will be made public shortly.