A husband reversed over his 90-year-old wife as he prepared to put his car away an inquest heard.
Kenneth Wood was at Huddersfield Coroners Court yesterday to hear about the accident that happened following a shopping trip by his wife, Mavis, and her daughter, Lynda Pugh.
West Yorkshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Mary Burke said Mrs Wood died at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary not long after the tragedy on July 22.
In a statement by Mrs Pugh which Miss Burke read to the court she said she and her mother had a well-worked routine whereby they went shopping with Mr Wood.
He would then take the groceries home while they would enjoy a luncheon together.
They would catch a bus home and he would pick them up from a nearby bus stop and return to their bungalow in Rowley Drive, Fenay Bridge.
Reliving those fateful seconds, Mrs Pugh said: “I had no real warning of what was about to happen.
“I could see blood on the step. I must have been knocked unconscious momentarily. My mum had been knocked over and Alan Marsh, (a neighbour) was attending to her.”
Mrs Pugh said she was dazed and in shock and dripping blood from a head wound.
She added that paramedics arrived and began asking her questions.
Mrs Pugh added: “I realised how bad the impact was as she seemed unresponsive to treatment.”
Consultant pathologist Dr Karen Ramsden said Mrs Wood had died as the result of a head injury.
The court heard oral evidence from West Yorkshire Police collision investigator Robert Crispin.
He said the blue Nissan Micra’s rear bumper had “come into contact with a pedestrian.”
He added: “The driveway was extremely narrow to reverse down.”
Noel Lowden, acting Det Sgt at West Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Enquiry Team, said enquiries were undertaken at the scene.
In her conclusion Miss Burke said a tragic accident had occurred.
She said: “Mr Wood has attempted to reverse down and I believe he was not using his nearside mirror. He was using a front rear view mirror.
“Using that rear view mirror was, however, a restricted view and the construction of the vehicle also presented difficulties because of the size of window.
“Clearly Mr Wood did not see his wife or his stepdaughter on the drive. That driveway is a very narrow driveway and not easy to negotiate.
“I am satisfied that this was a tragic set of circumstances where they contrived at a given moment or two.
“This didn’t happen over minutes but in split seconds of time”.
