Full inquest held into death of Horsham teen Mia Craen

Mia Mackenzie Craen, 18, suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.

Miss Craen was driving along Worthing Road in Southwater, Horsham, on January 30 when she lost control of the car and crashed into a tree.

At an inquest into her death, held in Horsham yesterday, coroner Dr Karen Henderson concluded that Miss Craen had been travelling at excess speed and died as a result of an accident.

Senior coroner's officer Geoffrey Charnock said while the weather was fine at the time with good visibility, the road surface was wet from heavy rainfall earlier in the day.

• READ MORE: Aston Villa's Jack Grealish donates to Mia Craen fundraiser

He said: "Whilst it was not possible for the forensic collision investigator to calculate an exact speed, they do believe the vehicle was travelling at a speed in excess of the 40mph restriction.

"The conclusion of the forensic collision investigator is that the collision occurred when Miss Craen was driving her vehicle towards the Hop Oast roundabout on the A24 when she lost control while negotiating a left hand bend, whilst probably travelling at excess speed, and collided with a tree."

Mia played in goal for Horsham Hockey Club.

The inquest heard that a postmortem examination was carried out on February 3 at Worthing Hospital by Dr Mark Whittaker.

He concluded the cause of death was multiple injuries following a collision.

• READ MORE: More than £20k raised after death of Mia Craen in Sussex

Miss Craen's brother Finlay Craen said at the time of the crash that his sister had been driving to their new home in Kempshott Road, Horsham.

He told The Argus: “Everyone she knew said that her smile would instantly light up a room and she was never not happy.

Mia Craen, who died in a crash near Horsham, was described as 'always happy and smiling' by her brother Finlay

“Everyone loved hearing her voice and she was always really talkative. It isn’t the same without her.”

He also said that Aston Villa football player Jack Grealish was a “hero” to his sister and that Grealish donated £2,000 to the family’s GoFundMe appeal and sent him a personal message on Instagram before sharing a link to the fundraiser with his 1.4 million followers.

Have you got a story for us? Email news@theargus.co.uk or contact us here.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Sign up to our newsletter to get updates sent straight to your inbox.

You can also call us on 01273 021 400.