A POPULAR Youtuber was killed when the drug-driver of the car he was in 'aquaplaned' on a west Dorset road which was flooded due to blocked drains, his inquest heard.

Douglas Tandoh, known as DLuxx to his 105,000 subscribers, was travelling home from a fancy dress party when the tragedy happened.

The inquest in Bournemouth on Friday heard the road was known to authorities as a 'flooding hot spot' and four other crashes had occurred there, including two just over a week before Mr Tandoh died.

The 26-year-old was a passenger in friend Eyram Tetteh's Vauxhall Astra when he lost control as he drove through a 7in deep puddle during a heavy storm.

The car left the A35 in Dorset and crashed head-on into a tree before tipping onto its side and righting itself.

Emergency services were automatically alerted when Mr Tetteh's Apple watch sent an SOS which included a sound recording of him 'mumbling' after the crash.

When they arrived, they found Mr Tandoh dead in the passenger seat. A post mortem examination later confirmed he died from severe head injuries likely caused when he struck the dashboard.

Mr Tetteh was stranded in the vehicle and was taken to hospital and treated for injuries.

He was later convicted of drug driving in relation to the incident for being over twice the cannabis limit and banned from driving for 18 months.

At an inquest into his death at Monkton Wyld, near Lyme Regis, Dorset, on October 31, 2021, Mr Tandoh was described as an 'able and talented' social media expert.

He had built up a loyal fanbase of 105,000 subscribers and attracted six million views for his over-the-top reactions to music and comedy videos on his YouTube channel.

The hearing heard how the stretch of road where Mr Tandoh died flooded on a "regular basis" and several other cars had spun out of control there in the weeks before the crash.

David Burgess, who was on his way to work at the time, said: "It was dark and the weather was horrendous.

"From local knowledge I am aware of floods quite regularly. I used the road daily (in the weeks before the crash) and had seen at least four other vehicles on separate occasions on the side of the road waiting to be recovered."

Another witness, Samuel Truan, described the weather as "horrendous".

He said: "Large parts of the road was flooded as we approached. I saw some hazard lights flashing to the left.

"I saw a car that had left the road and crashed into a tree. It was on four wheels and there was a lot of damage.

"As we approached I called 999. I could hear someone shouting 'help'. The male was partly outside the window with his legs in the car sitting on the window trim."

Oliver Dash, road safety engineer for Highways England, said they knew the road was a "flood risk location" and that the gullies had been checked on October 29 and 30 - the day before the crash on October 31, 2021.

He said they had since installed two further gullies on the stretch of road.

Dr Basil Purdue, Home Office pathologist, said Mr Tandoh, who had his seat belt on at the time, is likely to have struck his head on the dashboard, with the "severity of force" fracturing the right side of his skull.  

He said: "I was informed that the driver was wearing an Apple watch and that was what had given the signal.

"That sent a message saying he had had a fall. The emergency services could hear him mumbling to the passenger.

"The car left the road after it struck a puddle and struck a tree, tipping on one side and back again onto its wheels.

"I think he died quickly and was rendered completely unconscious and would have known nothing from that point on."

Stephen Nicholls, assistant coroner for Dorset, concluded that Mr Tandoh died as a result of a head injury caused by a road traffic collision.

He said: "There were pools of standing water. Its clear that National Highways England were aware of the problems and regular clearings of the gullies were taking place. Additional clearance took place including on October 30 2021.

"The driver approached the end of the duel carriage way which was on a slope. He lost control on the standing water and struck a tree set back some distance from the road.

"The result is that Mr Tandoh's head came into contact with a part of the vehicle causing and immediate loss of consciousness and soon after death".

Mr Tandoh moved to the UK from Ghana in 2011 and grew up alongside his sister, three brothers, and parents in Camberwell, south London.

He was living in Plymouth, Devon, at the time of his death and the fancy dress party had taken place in Southampton, Hants.

His devastated family appeared remotely at the inquest in Bournemouth, Dorset, where they revealed that Mr Tandoh's father had since died following the tragic loss of his son.

His brother, Christopher Tandoh, said in a statement that the family had lost their "best friend".

He said: "He was supposed to make it to the end with us. He was supposed to be there for all the big emotional moments in our lives."

He went on to tell the inquest: "We have just lost our dad, as well. Everyone is quite overwhelmed."