Teenage joyrider killed himself and his two friends in a fireball crash with a bus racing his Mercedes on the wrong side of the road minutes after taking 'hippy crack'

A teenage driver killed himself and two of his passengers in a fireball crash with a bus when he raced his Mercedes down the wrong side of the road minutes after inhaling 'hippy crack'.

Jimmy Savory was already disqualified from driving for previous motoring offences despite being just 17 when he consumed nitrous oxide from balloons with friends Star Tomkins, 17, and Harley Woods, 18.

All three died instantly when their speeding car - driven by Savory - collided head-on with a bus at a railway bridge in west London, just before midnight.

The 'excessive speed' collision wedged the Mercedes C180 Kompressor under the bus and triggered an inferno that engulfed both vehicles, trapped the group inside and took two hours to extinguish. A fourth passenger in the Mercedes, Faye Chownsmith, was the only survivor.

The details of the shocking episode - in March last year - emerged in the same week that former England footballer Raheem Sterling admitted driving his Lamborghini dangerously ahead of a motorway crash when he had been inhaling the drug.

The disturbing story of how the trio died emerged for the first time in an inquest this week at West London Coroners' Court.

Jimmy Savory, 17, killed himself and two of his passengers in a fireball crash with a bus when he raced his Mercedes down the wrong side of the road minutes after inhaling 'hippy crack'

Star Tomkins, 17, was killed when the speeding car smashed head-on into a bus after the friends had been smoking cannabis, drinking alcohol and inhaling nitrous oxide

The other friend killed in the smash as the Mercedes C180 Kompressor got wedged under the bus - and triggered an inferno that engulfed both vehicles - was Harley Woods, 18 

Pictures of the scene show the scorched bus which had its front half charred by flames 

Savory, a labourer, 'who had total disregard to other road users as well as the occupants in the car', would likely have received a life sentence had he survived the crash, it was said.

The group had been smoking cannabis, drinking alcohol and filming themselves consuming nitrous oxide balloons while driving around Feltham that night.

Social media videos posted that evening showed all four occupants of the car were consuming laughing gas via balloons while driving at twice the speed limit.

The videos have since been removed from TikTok but the Daily Mail was able to find another film posted by Savory a few weeks earlier showing him smoking cannabis in a car at night while the driver - whose identity is not known - inhales from a balloon.

Detective Constable Victor Barkes said: 'He [Savory] can be seen driving on the wrong side of the road whilst the traffic lights are red.

'One of the females in the car stated they needed to put their seatbelt on.

'All the occupants in the car at various times of the night were consuming nitrous oxide.

'This included Jimmy driving around while having a balloon in his mouth. The Mercedes was being driven at speed through residential streets.

'It appears Jimmy was showing off to his friends that were inside the car. It shows Jimmy had a lack of awareness of the effects nitrous oxide posed.

‘Jimmy had a total disregard for other road users as well as the occupants of the car. It is very surprising that no other members of the public were killed.'

At one point Savory was also captured on CCTV with a balloon in his mouth while driving.

At around 11.55pm, an H25 double decker bus, carrying just one passenger, was approaching a railway bridge near Feltham Young Offenders' Institute.

Savory was coming in the opposite direction and had moved to the wrong side of the road to overtake two vehicles.

A TikTok video posted by Savory a few weeks before his fatal crash shows him smoking cannabis in a car at night while the driver inhales from a balloon

The bus driver saw the Mercedes appear ‘out of nowhere’ heading straight at him.

Sole survivor Ms Chownsmith later said the last thing she remembered was seeing the 'headlights of the bus' in front of them before their car ploughed into it.

The bus driver - who miraculously escaped without serious injury - had to force his way out of his cabin and moments later both vehicles were engulfed in a fireball.

Police managed to drag the passengers from the car as the fire took hold of the Mercedes

They then frantically tried to pry Savory from the driver's seat using a metal bar but were unable to free him because of how badly the car was crushed and how severe the flames were.

One officer said trying to get the teenagers out of the burning car was 'one of the most challenging' incidents in his 27 years of policing.

An air ambulance attended but Savory and two of his friends were all pronounced dead at the scene.

Savory was serving a six-month driving ban after he was previously caught driving without a licence or insurance. The Mercedes was also uninsured.

A large metal can of nitrous oxide was later found in the passenger seat footwell of the car.

Savory's mother, Lisa Allen, gave a statement, saying: 'Jimmy made mistakes, but don't we all make mistakes in life? He wasn't perfect to everyone, but he was to me. And now I carry on in a dark cold world, longing for the day I see him again.'

Tomkins's grandmother Dawn and mother Lauren both said she had been hoping to become a nail technician but her equipment now lies unused in her bedroom.

Footage posted on social media showed a huge inferno, with thick black smoke streaming into the sky and out of the bus windows as shocked witnesses stood nearby

They added: 'Her life was tragically cut short five and a half weeks before her 18th birthday. We never imagined we would spend her birthday sitting at her graveside. Instead of buying her first car, we had to buy a coffin and a headstone.'

The family of Woods said: 'Losing him has left a pain we will never be able to put into words. Harley was only 18, he had so much life ahead of him. He didn't deserve to die so young.'

A post-mortem found all three victims died as a result of multiple traumatic injuries. There was no toxicology report revealed in court.

The coroner heard that had he survived the crash Savory would potentially have faced a life sentence for causing death by dangerous driving.

Coroner Dr Anton Van Dellen recorded that the deaths were down to a road traffic collision, adding: 'I don't consider that any of the three deceased experienced any period of trauma or pain, I hope that is some very small comfort to the families.'