Father, 28, died when he jumped from moving car at 20mph after arguing with his girlfriend on way home from a family barbecue, inquest hears

• James Davies had been at family BBQ with partner Letitia Sannina in south Wales
• The pair got a lift back to Grangetown, Cardiff, but were 'bickering in the back'
• Letitia then told him she no longer wanted to be together, an inquest heard today
• James responded: 'Then watch this', before jumping out of the car at 20mph

A young father was killed when he jumped from a moving car after an argument with his girlfriend on the way home from a family barbecue, an inquest heard.

James Davies, 28, and partner Letitia Sannina had been socialising with relatives at the gathering in south Wales on June 23 last year, before the couple got a lift back home. 

An inquest head the pair had been 'bickering in the back' of the car before Letitia told James she no longer wanted to be together.

She said James responded saying: 'Oh it's like that, yeah? Then watch this,' before jumping out of the car at 20mph along Avondale Road, Cardiff.

Letitia told the hearing that James, from Grangetown, Cardiff, had been acting 'out of character' on the day and 'giving his mother attitude'.

Friend Charlie Davies said he was driving at no more than 20 miles per hour when he 'remembered seeing James as he left the car' and then 'heard a loud thud'.

James was taken to hospital but doctors informed his mother that he was brain dead and his family agreed for his organs to be donated. 

The hearing in Pontypridd was told that there was alcohol and cocaine in his system but not at large levels at the time of the death in June last year. 

Police concluded no one else was involved in his death and there were no faults with Mr Davies' Skoda Citigo.

The cause of death was given as a devastating brain injury.

Assistant coroner Rachel Knight gave a narrative conclusion saying although evidence showed James 'deliberately opened the car door' there was 'insufficient evidence as to whether he understood the likely consequences of that act'.

After the hearing, James' mum Yvonne Beere said: 'We as a close family love James terribly, our family are devastated to have lost someone with such a big heart, a heart that was big enough to share with every member of his family. We miss him so much.'