A woman died when she sped away from police in her new BMW and crashing into a parked car, an inquest has heard.
Xena Georgiou, 20, had only just bought the black BMW One Series at a police auction a week before the horror crash.
She had been pulled over by officers during a routine police stop on Washway Road, Sale, on December 3, 2023, and had been chatting to them for around five minutes before she sped away.
Georgiou, from Wythenshawe, was chased through several residential roads reaching speeds of 70mph before losing control of the motor on a bend and smashing into a parked car.
She was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary where she was later pronounced dead.
Her ‘close friend’ Yasmin Tanker and Jake Bosquet, who was a friend of Tanker, were also in the car at the time and both suffered ‘significant injuries’.
Bosquet was left in hospital for two weeks and suffered ‘memory loss’, an inquest jury was told.
South Manchester Coroner’s Court yesterday heard Georgiou had spoken to her mother on FaceTime an hour before the crash and seemed ‘happy’ as she sat in her new car and ate a takeaway with her pal.
Xena Georgiou, 20, died when she sped away from police in her new BMW and crashing into a parked car
The inquest heard how Georgiou had bought the BMW with the help of her mother.
Bodycam and dashcam footage recorded on the evening of December 3 was played to the court, and showed GMP officers PC Nathan Lowe and PC Stephan Bielizna carry out the traffic stop on Washway Road, Sale.
They had been patrolling the area and spotted that the car Georgiou was driving had no insurance and was registered outside of Manchester.
Footage showed ‘around five minutes’ of conversation, in which she gave the insurance details of her mother, who had placed temporary insurance coverage on the vehicle in the past.
PC Lowe told the court that after attempting to find the details on the police’s national system, he asked Georgiou to step into their vehicle where a fingerprint scan could be carried out, as ‘she did not look’ like a woman in her 40s.
However, after a short while, the bodycam footage showed her suddenly driving off. A pursuit then began.
At one point, one of the officers could be heard saying ‘what’s she doing?’.
Police followed the BMW on several residential roads in the area, with both vehicles reaching speeds of up to ’70mph’.
Georgiou then lost control on a bend on Marsland Road at around 8.30pm, colliding with a parked car.
When asked about the risk factor of the traffic stop by assistant coroner Mr Adrian Farrow, PC Bielizna said that it felt ‘comfortable’.
Georgiou, from Wythenshawe, was chased through several residential roads reaching speeds of 70mph before losing control of the motor on a bend and smashing into a parked car
He added: ‘There was nothing that I foreseen that would have led to the outcome that did.’
In a packed courtroom, members of Georgiou’s family were in attendance as well as representatives of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
It is mandatory to refer a case to the IOPC for investigation when someone dies after contact with police.
Among the witnesses called were Georgiou’s mother, Catherine.
She broke down in tears when she described her daughter as an ‘outgoing, kind, funny, kind, loving, very generous’, and someone who would ‘help people even though she was struggling.’
She added that Georgiou ‘could also be fiery’ and ‘outspoken.’
The court heard how Georgiou had only had the car for a week after her mother had bought it for her from a police auction in Doncaster.
She told the court how she didn’t want Georgiou to drive the car until it had been ‘checked’ as it was scheduled for a parts replacement at a local garage on December 4.
Catherine told the court that Georgiou had persuaded her to allow her to drive the car, but she noted that she had given her money to cover the insurance.
However, she only found out that her daughter hadn’t paid for the cover six months after her death.
The grieving mother said: ‘When I sent the £180, I just assumed that she done it.’
Catherine added that the last time she saw Xena was during a FaceTime one hour before the crash.
She said Georgiou was ‘happy’ eating a takeaway with her close friend Tanker in her new car.
The inquest is expected to be heard over four days to give the jury time to reflect on the evidence.