Tributes Paid To County Durham Crash Death Victim

19 May 2015, 05:37 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Tributes have been paid to 17 year old Karl Bennett who died in a crash in County Durham at the weekend.

The crash happened on the A182 South Hetton Road, Easington at the weekend.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday, 17th May Karl Martin Bennett, aged 17 was a passenger in a green Ford Mondeo when it left the road and crashed near a garden centre on the A182.

It ended up in a field and police were alerted immediately by a passing motorist.

Karl was confirmed dead from his injuries at the scene.

The other two occupants, both male, were aged 18 and from the South Hetton and Easington Lane areas.

They were treated at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough but have since been released.

Karl was from Easington Lane and his family said he had been looking forward to his 18th birthday next week.

A statement from the family said;
"Karl had a promising apprenticeship as a design technician with Northern Gas Networks in Sunderland and was a keen amateur boxer at the former Hetton Boxing Club.

He will be sadly missed by his brothers Josh and Ben and his mum and dad, also step-mum and step-dad."

The road was closed for around nine hours while officers from the collision investigation unit examined the scene.

Sgt Simon Kestle, from the road policing unit said:
"Officers are trying to piece together the sequence of events leading up to the accident, and we are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen the green Mondeo during late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning."

Any witnesses are urged to contact the collision investigation unit at Cleveland and Durham Specialist Operations Unit on 01642 301558 or Durham Police on 101 if they have any information that may help the investigation.