THREE of the five teenagers killed when the stolen car they were in smashed into a wall had allegedly been drinking after a friend’s funeral shortly before the accident.

The teenagers were named yesterday as Daniel Carwardine and Danielle Martin, both 16, Lee Morgan and Barrie Mackay, both 15, and 17-year-old Kelly Goring.

All five died instantly in the crash in St Leonards, East Sussex, in the early hours of Saturday morning. The car, a blue Metro, is believed to have struck a cyclist and then been spotted by the police, but it is not clear if officers were in pursuit at the time of the crash. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating the accident.

Daniel and Danielle, known as DJ, had been to the funeral of a college friend, a 16-year-old girl who died of a brain tumour. A friend said that together with Kelly they had been drinking beer shortly before the accident. Charlene Lunnon, 16, said that they had been “messing around” in the graveyard of a church in St Leonards.

She said: “We went up to the church just to mess around. Those three were all drinking because Dan and DJ had been to a funeral. I had no idea they were going to get into a car and definitely not that it was stolen. They would never have done that, they just weren’t that sort. I nearly went with them but I decided to go home.”

Dozens of bouquets and flowers remained at the scene of the crash yesterday as family and friends paid their respects.

Daniel’s father, Lee, said that he heard about the crash on the radio. “I just knew he was involved and my heart missed a beat. I went to the police station and they showed me a picture, it was Dan. My world has been torn apart and so have those of four other families.”

He said that his son, a trainee mechanic, was a “good boy”.

The mother of Danielle, Coral Pasqua, said: “She was a beautiful daughter, the most perfect daughter you could have. She didn’t smoke, didn’t take drugs and then this. We cannot understand what she was doing in that car or why on earth she got into the car. We can’t come to terms with what happened. It’s too hard.”

IPCC duty commissioner Mike Franklin said: “This tragedy is extremely distressing for everybody involved. The investigation into all the circumstances has been continuing throughout the weekend and I will ensure that we get to the bottom of what happened and why.” Sidney Ewing, 16, a friend of Danielle and Daniel, said: “We’ve heard there was a police chase before the driver lost control and crashed. We’re all so shocked.”

Lee’s mother, Elaine Morgan, 45, a housewife, said that her son was always happy and smiling and wanted to become a mechanic or a carpenter. “I had tried and tried to drum into him not to go out in cars but he obviously didn’t listen. On the night it happened he was supposed to be staying with a friend. He said he was and I trusted him. I normally rang him when he was out to make sure he was OK, but on this one occasion I didn’t make the call.”

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