THE best friend of a former soldier and popular footballer was on the phone with him when his car left the road and crashed, an inquest heard.

Joshua Jason Atkin, of Victoria Road, Saltney, died in the early hours of Sunday, March 28, after his Seat Leon left the A483 at Wrexham.

The inquest at County Hall in Ruthin heard how the 26-year-old was a popular and well-liked young man, a talented footballer, and a former soldier who intended to return to the Army in October this year.

The former St David's High School had worked at SHB Hire, the UMP papermill in Deeside, and Airbus before joining the Queen's Royal Hussars armoured regiment.

He played football for the Army, which took him all over the world, a talent which he pursued with clubs at Broughton, Buckley, Connah's Quay, Saltney and Lache in Chester, before signing for Corwen in August 2020.

In a written statement, his dad Keith Atkin said: "His main desire was to return to his friends in the regiment."

The inquest heard how Josh's car collided with barriers and a sign near the Mold Road off slip of the A483 in Wrexham.

In a statement to the inquest at County Hall in Ruthin today, his friend Jake Johnson described how we was on the phone with Joshua, known as Josh, when he heard a loud noise before the phone went dead.

Josh was driving to talk to Jake, who he had known since Year 7 of school, after becoming upset while spending the evening with Charlene Hughes at her home.

They had both been drinking and, in a statement to the inquest, Ms Hughes said she had done all she could to stop him getting into his car.

She described how they had spent the evening talking and dancing. She said they had both drunk cider, vodka and shots.

She said his mood had changed unexpectedly and he wanted to leave. She said she offered to pay for a taxi and finally persuaded him to stay in her spare room.

But after what she described as a "tense stand-off" he left the house.

Before that, both Josh and Charlene spoke to Jake on Josh's mobile phone who told Josh that he must not drive.

Charlene said she held his hand in both of hers while Josh was in the car but had to let go when he began to drive away. She added that he drove away quietly and calmly.

She said: "I felt I did everything I could to prevent Josh from driving."

At 2.26am Josh's car left the northbound carriageway of the A483 and crashed along the barriers near the sliproad before hitting the support poles bearing a sign.

Another motorist turned around to return to the scene after seeing the Seat at the side of the road. They described seeing the badly damaged car before seeing Josh's body a little further down the verge

He was confirmed deceased by paramedics at 3.50am.

The car was so badly damaged that no diagnostic data was recoverable by police. It had been raining heavily so accident investigators were unable to determine the speed of the car.

However, they said there was evidence that Josh had been wearing his seatbelt.

Investigations also found no fault with the road surface or signage, and there had been no other vehicles involved.

Coroner for North Wales East and Central John Gittins told Josh's mother and sister, who attended the inquest, that he would've died instantly and would not have suffered.

A postmortem examination found 218mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

Josh had died as a result of a head injury.

Mr Gittins recorded a conclusion of death as a result of a road traffic collision.

He passed on his condolences to Josh's family after telling them he had visited the scene of the incident that morning after being informed by police as he wanted to understand fully what had happened on behalf of the young man's family.

He said: "It is clear from what I have read about Josh that his death is a huge loss and he had so much going forward.

"He was a talented footballer who was looking to go back into the Army.

"This is a man I know you will think about every single day."