A 15-year-old heiress was killed when her 'all terrain' vehicle flipped and landed on her neck as she was trying to 'scare' her friend by zig-zagging through a field, an inquest heard.
Iris Goldsmith, daughter of financier Ben Goldsmith, died on the family's farm after losing control of the six-seater Polaris Ranger - nicknamed The Mule.
Neither Iris nor her pal were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash and were flung from the vehicle and landed under its roof.
Both her dad and the coroner agreed that it was the girl's driving, along with "bad luck," that claimed her life.
In a written statement, Ben Goldsmith said he'd taught Iris to drive on private land, including at Cannwood Farm, from the age of eight years, labelling the sequence of events leading to her death as "unbelievably unfair".
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He said: "The way the vehicle fell on her was unlucky, and there was no one else around who could help. All of these things as one-offs are unlucky but added together, it is just unbelievably unfair.
"It is difficult for me to apportion blame to anyone but Iris for what happened. There are certain things which have contributed, but Iris was a force of nature and I don't think anyone could have stopped her from doing anything that she wanted to do."
Taunton Coroner's Court today heard that the teen, who was taught to ride the vehicle by her dad aged just eight, had tried to spook her friend by zig-zagging across a rough field.
The coroner heard Iris was pinned to the ground by her neck and couldn't be freed until members of staff from Cannwood Farm, in North Brewham, Somerset, rushed to help.
The Polaris was eventually lifted from her but she was unconscious and had stopped breathing. After 45 minutes of desperate medical help and CPR she was pronounced dead.
In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Goldsmith described his daughter as a "force of nature" and said "nobody could have stopped her doing what she wanted to do."
He described the tragedy as an "amalgamation of bad luck," but said she was well used to driving the vehicle from a very young age and had never seen her do so irresponsibly.
Coroner Tony Williams recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing the two teens were on their way to collect another friend from a neighbouring farm at around 3pm on July 8 2019 when the tragedy occurred.
Later examinations on the vehicle showed it had low front brake pads, worn lower wishbone bushes and under-inflated tyres.
A collision investigator told the inquest it was a combination of a sharp right turn, the vehicle faults and the safety equipment not being used that culminated in her death.
No criminal charges were brought in respect of the circumstances of Iris' death and HSE dropped their investigation due to the fact the incident happened during leisure use.
Mr Williams said: "I think it's fair to say that the various defects to the Polaris Ranger, if considered in isolation, would not have caused the vehicle to overturn.
"It was Iris' driving that caused this and the defects contributed to the instability of the vehicle.
"As we know, Iris was probably having fun with her friend when this tragic incident occurred."
A pathologist at Yeovil Hospital concluded that her cause of death was pressure to the neck, which caused the obstruction of veins and lead to cardiac arrest.
