AN YSTRADGYNLAIS teenager was unlawfully killed after losing control and crashing a quad bike, a coroner has ruled.

Nia Jones, 17, sustained fatal injuries when she rode into a ravine on the old Trecastle road in June of last year. Her passenger was also badly injured.

Coroner Geraint Williams, sitting in Brecon, said the owner of the bike had failed to maintain it properly.

The inquest was told how the bike's owner, Daniel Paul, had bought the machine the previous day.

He had to carry out repairs before the bike started. And after riding it for the first time, he found the steering to be over-sensitive'.

Nia, Paul and a group of friends then went on a one-night camping trip, taking it in turns to ride the bike as well as a scrambler and mini-moto that had also been takena along.

Nia took several turns on the bike and on one of those occasions, was carrying Martin Shackell.

In a statement read to the court, the coroner heard how Mr Shackell had been asked to assist Nia with the brakes and had leaned over to apply them.

Later on, he said that he asked her to reduce her speed because he was feeling uncomfortable.

He said: "She came to a stop and I asked her to let me be the driver but she said no and promised to go slower.

"We pulled away again and she was going a lot slower. Then, for some reason, it left the road.

"As far as I am aware, I felt relaxed. Then suddenly I ended up down a rock gully.

"Nia didn't scream or swerve or make any sudden movements."

A police examination of the quad bike showed the brake pads to be very worn' and the rear brake did not work, although no steering defect was found.

The coroner told the court that although the Crown Prosecution Service did not feel the evidence supported a prosecution, he felt Mr Paul had a duty of care to Nia which had been breached in the lack of maintenance of the bike leading to her death.