London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Bradford Toller Lane crash inquest: Driver 'twice alcohol limit'

Bradford Toller Lane crash inquest: Driver 'twice alcohol limit'

The driver of a car which crashed killing all four occupants was twice the legal drink-drive limit and had taken drugs, an inquest has heard.

Murtza Chaudhry, 21, was driving the BMW, which was also carrying Arbaaz Hussain, 21, Zeeshan Khalid, 20 and Tayyab Siddique, 22, when it hit a tree on Toller Lane, Bradford, in 2018.

The car was being followed by police after it overtook marked and unmarked police cars at speed.

The inquest is due to last five days.

The virtual hearing, led by senior coroner Martin Fleming, heard all four men died of multiple injuries shortly after the collision at about 05:30 BST on 2 August 2018.

PC Robert Hoyle, of West Yorkshire Police, told the inquest he was in the unmarked police vehicle and watching out for a car involved in burglaries in the Wilsden area when the BMW driven by Mr Chaudhry went by.

PC Hoyle said about 65 seconds passed between the car being spotted and the crash occurring.

'Foot to the floor'


When asked by the coroner if the BMW looked to be slowing down at any stage, PC Hoyle responded that "it probably accelerated".

"At one point I was travelling at 100mph and it was still ahead," he said.

Sgt Benjamin Marrow, also in the unmarked car, said they followed the BMW due to the manner it was being driven - crossing the central white line and going the wrong side of a bollard - and it being a similar colour to the car thought to be involved in the Wilsden burglaries.

Asked if the blue lights and siren had an effect on the speed of the BMW, he said: "I would describe it as 'foot to the floor' and [it] kept going to get away as fast as the car would let them."

All four men, who were from Bradford, died at the scene on Toller Lane despite the efforts of police officers and paramedics

A statement from toxicologist Elizabeth Fox which was read out in court said Mr Chaudhry was found to have consumed alcohol at a level of 176mg per 100ml of blood - with the legal limit being 80mg.

He had also taken cocaine and cannabis, the inquest was told.

Det Sgt Fiona Allen told the hearing that an axe was found in the driver footwell of the BMW and a knuckleduster was on a seat, while a hammer and a second axe were found outside the car.

Mr Chaudhry was disqualified from driving at the time of the crash and was not insured to drive the vehicle, she said.

Asked by the coroner if there was any suggestion the car's occupants had been "engaging in criminality", including the burglaries, prior to the crash, she said: "From the inquiries we made, there was nothing to suggest it was linked."

Statements from the families of those who died were read out earlier in the hearing, with Mr Chaudhry's grandfather calling him "personable and well-mannered".

Mr Hussain's mother said she shared a "special bond" with her son, who she said had a "beautiful heart".

Mr Khalid was described by his mother as having a passion for sport and enjoyed cricket, boxing, tennis and badminton.

Mr Siddique's family said he was "always generous and charitable" and his son was born the January after his death.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×