Jake Patchett was driving as he took a 50-mile round trip to his favourite KFC.

The 23-year-old died when the Ford Focus he, his girlfriend Sammy-Jo Franks and her daughter were travelling in crashed into a tree near Scunthorpe.

His girlfriend was injured along with her two-year-old daughter, who suffered a fractured skull and broken bones.

It was after she woke up in hospital that she found out she was pregnant.

The tragic lad – who was a darts champion – would never get to find out he was going to be a dad.

“We were very much in love and we had plans to get engaged”

Sammy-Jo Franks

She said: “The first thing I knew was being woken up in Hull Royal Infirmary. I couldn’t see my daughter or Jake.

“They wouldn’t tell me what had happened. The next thing was they said I was pregnant and Jake was dead.

“We were very much in love and we had plans to get engaged.”

The inquest heard Sammy-Jo and Jake’s baby was due in eight weeks.

Sammy-Jo, formerly of Barton, said the couple had been “very much in love” after meeting at The Silver Cod pub in Hull.

Jake drove Sammy-Jo and her daughter to Bridlington after he finished work and spent two hours in the resort before heading to his favourite KFC in Scunthorpe.

He died when the car crashed into a tree on a gradual bend on the B1206 near Elsham in North Lincolnshire around 9pm.

Former carpenter Jake was was ranked one of the best youth darts players in the world and turned pro two years ago.

Miss Franks, who suffered a broken arm, said in a statement she felt safe whenever she was in the car with the man she described as “a good, calm, safe driver”.

Jake’s mum Kim Dolman told the inquest in Cleethorpes “for some unknown reason he wanted a KFC from Scunthorpe” even though he lived in Hull.

She said: “Because he had worked in the Scunthorpe area for so long he preferred the KFC there instead of their local one.”

Witnesses said they had seen the Ford Focus being driven “normally” before the fatal crash on October 18.

Sammy Jo’s daughter Lily is facing further surgery after suffering three breaks to her leg, a broken arm and a skull fracture.

She added: “From being a bubbly little girl she became withdrawn and suffers from nightmares. She wakes up shouting ‘Car, car, dark, dark’.”

Concluding death was due to a road accident, Coroner Mark Kendall said there had been no criticism of Jake’s manner of the driving and no evidence of excess speed.

“Why did it happen? I am afraid we will probably never know,” he said.

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