Councillor Corkin and the Parish Council Chairman attended the Inquest on Wednesday 30 January as observers.
The purpose of the Inquest was to determine who, how, when and where.
The Coroner, Mr Darren Salter, read out summaries from the statements from witnesses, including 2 HGV drivers, one of whom had a dashcam recorder on his cab. The Coroner also confirmed the Post Mortem report which indicated that Mr Nelson had died from serious head injuries, but there were no toxicology issues.
The pedestrian, who was interested in churches, had been staying at the Lion and had visited St. Giles Church and was going to walk across to Chesterton. He opened the gate and that was the last he remembered, probably hit by a tree. He was attended by members of the public until the emergency services arrived. There was no suggestion that the pedestrian was either involved with or in any way responsible for the accident.
The only formal witness was a representative from TVP Accident Investigation Team. He informed the Coroner that:
- the BMW had been modified, but all aspects of the car were fine;
- they concluded that the tyres had lost grip, and the car spun round, hitting the curb, the trees and fencing and bouncing back to face oncoming traffic;
- they had established that the car was travelling at 101mph, and that road undulations in lane 2 MAY have been a factor leading to loss of control by the driver
The Police did drive along the stretch at 70mph and at 101 mph and did confirm some movement at the higher speed where the road was uneven. There was some discussion if the existing warning signs were in the right place.
The final verdict was Death by Road Accident and the Coroner would write to the County Council.