Inquest to be held into death of Bradley Smith, 14, in ‘horrific’ Manoora stolen car crash in 2022

The roads were slick with rain when 14-year-old Bradley Smith was killed after a stolen Toyota Yaris, driven by his stoned and high teenage mate, slammed into a tree, changing the lives of the other four children in the car instantly.

Bradley Smith with Tiarnie Mueller's dog Bronson.

An inquest will be held into the death of a teenage boy in the care of the state who was killed when the stolen car he was a passenger in slammed into a tree at speed in the early hours of Valentines Day, 2022.

Previously, the Coroners Court of Queensland said 14-year-old Bradley Smith’s death was being investigated as one that occurred in the course of a police operation.

A spokesman for the CCQ confirmed an inquest into Bradley’s death would be held in the first half of 2025 in Cairns.

The roads were slick with rain and Bradley was sitting in the back seat of a stolen Toyota Yaris with his then-14-year-old mate – who a court would later be told was high on a combination of speed, meth and weed – in the driver’s seat.

Also in the car with them, which they had stolen from an address in Manunda earlier that evening, were four other children – the oldest being 15.

Bradley Smith, 14, was killed when the stolen Toyota Yaris he was a passenger in slammed into a tree in Pease St, Manoora, on February 14, 2022.

None of them were wearing seatbelts.

Bradley’s mate was speeding down Pease Street in Manunda when he tried to overtake a car, lost control, and the left rear passenger side of the car slammed into a tree on the opposite side of the road.

The crash caused the roof and other parts of the car to collapse, but none of the airbags deployed because the initial impact was at the rear of the car.

Bradley’s injuries were so significant he died by the side of the road in Manunda that night.

Three of the girls in the car were seriously injured.

One, who was 12 at the time, is now a quadriplegic.

She spent six months in hospital and without life supportive therapies in intensive care, would likely have died.

Another spent 17 days in hospital with a fractured pelvis and would have suffered permanent impairment without medical intervention, while the third had multiple fractures, abrasions, burns, bruises, and concussion.

The scene of the fatal traffic crash at Manoora, where the stolen Toyota Yaris left Pease Street near the Saltwater Creek bridge and crashed into a tree. Bradley Smith, 14, died at the scene, and five other children aged 12 to 15 were taken to Cairns Hospital with injuries. A man and a boy lay floral tributes at the scene of the crash. Picture: Brendan Radke

Bradley’s mate – who would later describe Bradley as “like a brother to him” and the other boy in the front seat escaped injury.

The scene that emergency services arrived at in the early hours of February 14, 2022, has variously been described as “horrific” and “confronting”.

When sentencing the driver to seven years in detention for manslaughter for killing Bradley in the crash, Chief Justice Helen Bowskill observed: “That (the children) were in that car at all is a failing of our society, our community and, as will become apparent, at least in the case of (the driver) and Bradley, a consequence of their family circumstances”.

Bradley Smith, 14, was killed after a stolen car slammed into a tree on Pease St, Manoora on February 14, 2022. Picture: Facebook

For about half an hour before the crash occurred, the Yaris was seen tearing around the streets of Cairns at exceedingly high speeds.

Police were monitoring the vehicle, and according to information tendered to the Supreme Court, tried unsuccessfully to catch up to it, travelling up to speeds of 120-130km/h at times.

The morning of Bradley’s death, Acting Chief Superintendent Chris Hodgman told a press conference at no stage had police pursued the vehicle.

“A tyre deflation device was authorised but was not able to be deployed prior to the crash,” Supt Hodgman said at the time.

At the time of his death, both Bradley’s parents had died and he was in the care of the Department of Child Safety.

Previously, a carer who looked after Bradley for several months before he ended up in residential care – Tiarnie Mueller – said an inquest into his death should be the minimum, and had called for a wider inquiry into the child safety system.

“I’m not happy with the system,” Ms Mueller previously told the Cairns Post.

“They’re failing these kids. They’re slipping through the cracks and these are the sort of children that need the most help.”

Issues to be investigated at inquest will be published once a date has been set.

The Queensland Police Union was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Inquest to be held into death of Bradley Smith, 14, in ‘horrific’ Manoora stolen car crash in 2022