Four young men in a stolen car had already evaded police on several occasions on the fateful night they were killed in a “fireball” collision during a 100mph police pursuit, an inquest heard.

James McClusky, 21, Craig James, 17, Robert Lynn, 16, and Thomas Tilleard, 15, all from Bradford, died almost instantly when the turbo-charged Subaru Impreza crashed into Killinghall Fisheries, in Killinghall Road, Laisterdyke, in the early hours of December 11, 2008.

At yesterday’s inquest, police and civilian witnesses gave harrowing accounts of the way the high-powered car became engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds, with police trying in vain to free the occupants. The building collapsed after the crash at around 4.35am.

In the hours leading up to the deaths, Linda Tilleard, the mother of Thomas, and Kim Rushworth, mother of Craig, had warned their sons they would get themselves killed if they did not stop stealing cars and joyriding.

Family statements read out at the inquest at Bradford Magistrates’ Court revealed the young men had a history of car theft.

Mrs Tilleard said the last time she saw her son was hours before the tragedy at their home in Lapwing Close, Lower Grange.

When he came to the house to get something to eat, “Craig and Robert had acted as lookouts while Thomas ate because the police had been looking for him in relation to a previous car theft.”

She said she had warned Craig about the dangers of joyriding. “I spoke to Craig. He told me they had stolen a Subaru motor car. I replied to him, saying, ‘Keep out of the cars, you will get yourselves killed’. I had been telling them all that for weeks.”

Craig, of Wenborough Lane, Holme Wood, had been issued with a similar warning days before the crash.

His mum, Kim Rushworth, said: “I asked him if he had been stealing cars and he began to brag. He bragged about what he was doing and said he had seen a ‘buzzing’ Subaru, which he was going to steal. I told him he was going to get killed. He went out the following morning and that was the last time I saw him.”

Jodie Moore, who was Craig’s girlfriend, described how she told Craig and the three others not to steal the Subaru, just hours before the tragedy. In a witness statement she said: “I told them to stop being stupid and thinking about stealing cars.”

She said Mr McCluskey, told her he had already been chased by the police that night but had ‘ditched’ them – meaning he had got away.

She said she was with the four youths shortly before the crash, when they had visited her at her friend’s house. Her statement said: “I asked him (Craig) not to go but he said he would be back later. I did not see the car drive off but I heard Craig say, ‘See you later’.”

Dr Elizabeth Lim told the inquest that death in all cases would have been almost instantaneous due to the severity of their injuries.

She said: “A Subaru had been reported stolen from the Daisy Hill area of Bradford and had been sighted in a number of locations.”

She said police had seen the car in Killinghall Road where, at one point, its speed was recorded to be in excess of 110mph. It was seen to go through red traffic lights and then cross on to the other side of the road before the driver lost control and the car crashed into a building, which collapsed.

She said the petrol tank erupted and combined with a burst gas main to create an intense blaze.

Dr Lim said Mr McClusky had been removed from the driver’s seat, Thomas from the front passenger seat and Robert and Craig from the rear passenger seats.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) were called in to investigate the incident, but after checking video and radio recordings, the watchdog decided the matter could be investigated by local police.

Roger Whittaker, the Bradford coroner, expressed his deepest sympathies to the families, who were all present in court. The inquest heard how Mr McClusky, of Harrier Close, Lower Grange, became ill with meningitis when he was nine-months old, was later found to be profoundly deaf and always lacked social skills.

His mum, Amanda Manogue, said he had been expelled from school aged 15 and went to a referral unit in Halifax, where the one-to-one tuition seemed to calm him down.

She said: “James very rarely went to school and, if he did, he caused problems in the class room.”

She said his behavioural problems were not confined to school and said he often argued with his family and broke things. On one occasion, after a disagreement, he cut up his bed mattress and set fire to it.

He was already known to the police for causing damage. He served a three-month sentence for robbery in 2007 and was given a security tag and curfew.

“At times he could be a loving person and he would help anyone out,” she said.

She said he was constantly getting into trouble for car-related crime.

“I told him to stop but he wouldn’t listen. The last I saw him was when he left the house saying he was going to Tom’s house.”

Selver Mahmutovic, of St Blaise Court, described how he was relaxing at home when he heard the distinctive sound of his automatic L-reg Subaru Impreza being started up outside.

He said: “I went out the back and saw a youngish boy, about 17 to 20, in the passenger’s seat. I came on to the balcony and jumped in front to stop him stealing it.

“He put it in drive and accelerated and clipped me. I fell to the floor and the car went flying out of the car park.”

PC Kevin Tomkinson, a dog handler, was called to attend the possible theft of another Subaru, this time a white one, from outside the Black Swan pub in Frizinghall Road that night. As they approached the scene, two males ran across the road and into the pub car park.

PC Tomkinson said he drove into the car park with a view to letting the police dogs hunt down the suspects but, as he got out of the car, he heard the “growl” from the exhaust of a powerful car coming towards the exit.

The dark-coloured Subaru shot past him, mounted the curb and sped off. By the time he got back in his vehicle and turned round, it was long gone.

PC Tomkinson said the Subaru was later sighted by the firearms unit on Sticker Lane and had also been picked up on CCTV cameras.

PC Tomkinson was then called to reports of a burglary in Otley Road, Undercliffe.

The Subaru came past him again in Undercliffe Old Road and he attempted to go after it, but lost it. He next saw the vehicle after it had collided with the fish & chip shop.

PC David Hitchcocks, a roads policing officer with training in advanced driving and tactical pursuit, said he came on duty at 10pm and heard a general police radio broadcast that a dark-coloured Subaru had been stolen in the Bradford area.

He said: “I was aware that the same vehicle had been sighted on occasions, so one of my responsibilities was to keep an eye out for that vehicle.”

Later, he heard over the police radio that the stolen Subaru had been seen again in Thornbury, so he headed in that direction.

As he got to Undercliffe, he received another message saying the stolen Subaru was just a quarter of a mile away.

PC Hitchcocks said that, as he approached the junction of Fagley Road, Pollard Lane and Killinghall Road, he saw the dark Subaru come across the junction and head along Killinghall Road.

He said: “As soon as it straightened up on Killinghall Road, it made off at some speed. I am quite sure the driver would have seen me. It was in sight but quite a few hundred yards in front on Killinghall Road going in the Dudley Hill direction.

“There was no way of catching due to it’s acceleration. My colleague told control we were behind the vehicle. We were doing about 100mph at that point. We were not gaining but matching its speed.”

PC Hitchcocks described how both he and the Subaru drove round the wrong side of a pedestrian refuge to straighten out the effects of a right hand bend.

He said it was at that stage that the driver of the Subaru seemed to start losing control and “overcorrected” before the vehicle slid sideways into the gable end of the fish and chip shop.

He said: “I ran across to find a scene of devastation. The vehicle was in a horrendous condition and a large proportion of the building had collapsed on the car. I was also aware of flames at the back of the vehicle.”

Police made desperate attempts to free the occupants but struggled due to the distorted nature of the car and the increasingly intense blaze.

They managed to free the front seat passenger, Thomas, and started CPR, but to no avail.

Gary Tilleard, the father of Thomas, asked why a police helicopter had not been called to join the pursuit and asked if “undue pressure” had been put on the driver of the Subaru PC Hitchcocks said police were only in the “initial stages” of a pursuit and added that he never got closer than 200 yards from the Subaru, although he later revised that to 100 yards after referring to a statement he made at the time.

Gayle Davey, a resident of Killinghall Road, said she was asleep when she heard a bang that made her jump out of bed. She said: “There was a flash and when it died down I noticed there was a car in the side of the building opposite my house.”

Thomas had been expelled from school at the age of nine and was a student at a Pupil Referral Unit.

Robert was unemployed and lived with his parents in Arden Road, Allerton.

Craig, also unemployed, lived with his family who said he had “fallen in with the wrong crowd.”

The hearing continues