A 'short but inspirational life' taken in an instant

A much-loved teenager who died in hospital six days after suffering 'unsurvivable' injuries in a 'high-velocity' car crash was unlawfully killed, a coroner has concluded.

Driver Elliot Martin, now 22, was jailed for six years in October, 2022, for causing the death of 17-year-old Ronaldo Johnson by dangerous driving. An inquest heard Martin led a police officer on a chase lasting 40 seconds before a Ford Focus he was driving jumped a second red light and hit a taxi at speed.

Two others, a woman in the taxi and a young man also in the car with Ronaldo, were left badly injured in the crash, which happened at the junction of Yew Tree Road and Mauldeth Road West, near Withington in south Manchester, in the early hours of March 31, 2021.

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Ronaldo - a talented gymnast, footballer and kick-boxer from Chorlton - was a rear-seat passenger. He was taken to Salford Royal Hospital, but sadly passed away despite the best efforts of medics on April 6 that year. The inquest heard he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

Pc Stuart Oram, a Greater Manchester Police dog handler with 21 years' experience at the time, was on patrol in a liveried Skoda with two police dogs in the back. He said he saw the Focus travel onto Wilmslow Road from Palatine Road through a red light at gone 3.30am

Pc Oram turned left behind it, but the Focus took the immediate next left and started to speed up, the inquest at Manchester Coroners' Court was told. He said he began to follow the vehicle, saying he believed it was trying to 'evade' him, and activated the car's emergency equipment.

He said Martin then took a right onto Yew Tree Road. The officer said he kept a safe distance, but attempted to close the gap at speeds of up to 65mph.

He told how he