A drink-driver who hit a road sign and flipped his car killed himself and his best friend, an inquest has heard.

Aled Coleman, 23 from Fishguard, was driving home on the A40 between Haverfordwest and Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, after a night out on 14 September 2025 at 03:15 BST.

His friend Aled Bowen, 18, from Trecwn, was in the passenger seat. Neither of the men were wearing seatbelts.

On Thursday, the hearing at Pembrokeshire County Hall was told the car hit "a roadside sign and overturned" and "alcohol consumption and inappropriate speed were contributing factors in the collision".

Emergency services said there was a strong smell of alcohol at the scene and an empty bottle of Jack Daniels.

Both friends had been at a nightclub in Haverfordwest that night.

In his report, Kevin Hague, a forensic collision investigator with Dyfed-Powys Police, said "the level of alcohol in the driver's system was above that of the legal limit".

While the "exact reason why the Polo collided is unknown, [...] inappropriate speed was a causation factor in this collision", he said.

But he said the specific speed at which the Polo was travelling along the 60mph road "cannot be quantified".

Senior Coroner Gareth Lewis said Coleman's cause of death was noted as a "traumatic head injury sustained in a road traffic collision". While Bowen died from "multiple traumatic injuries".

Eyewitness Craig Young said in a statement: "From what I could see ahead, and the damage sustained, I immediately thought anyone inside [the car] was potentially seriously injured or there's a fatality.

"I could make out two shapes inside, but there was no noise, no groans - it was completely silent. It was quite eerie."

He added there was "good visibility" on the night of the accident.

Paramedic Kerry Garbutt was one of the first on the scene, and she said both men "looked like they were entwined with each other" when she arrived at the scene.

"I remember a bottle of Jack Daniels on the floor and vapes everywhere. The signpost on the side of the road was severely damaged," she said.

PC Tirion Eynon said there was "substantial damage to the vehicle".

"There was a strong smell of alcohol, which I believe was from the vehicle and the occupants within it."

She said there was "a huge amount of debris from the collision".

"There were personal items, items of clothing, bottles of alcohol, including an empty bottle of Jack Daniels".

Speaking at the inquest, Bowen's elder sister, Carys Bowen, said her brother's death "could have been avoided. Certain choices led to his death".

Bowen's mother said "this event was so out of character" for her son.

"He told me he was going for a pint that evening, there was nothing to suggest that would be the last time I'd see him."

A healthcare worker, she said she was working the nightshift on 14 September 2025 and saw a social media post about a serious road traffic accident.

She recalled "panicking" as Bowen was not answering his phone: "My whole world came crashing down."

"He was hard-working, he had plans, he had dreams. His death has driven a hole through our family that cannot be repaired," she said.

Peter Coleman, Coleman's father, described his son's death as "painfully overwhelming".

Aled "had a sense of right from wrong", he said.

"We would always tell him never to drink-drive, and if he ever had too much to drink we would pick him up."