Girl, 3, dies after driver’s ‘deliberate’ decision led to crash
A three-year-old was killed after a Porsche driver drove the wrong way on a motorway after making a seemingly “deliberate” U-turn.
Faye Dawson[1], from Wallasey[2], died after Terence Unsworth’s Porsche Boxster crashed with her mum’s, Beth Dawson’s, Vauxhall Meriva. At an inquest on Thursday, November 2 at Preston Coroners Court, the court heard how Terence seemingly deliberately positioned his car in the incorrect direction on the M6 near Leyland.
Eyewitnesses described seeing a “fireball” after the 79-year-old’s car instantly burst into flames after it crashed. Terence died on November 19 last year, reports LancsLive.[3]
Mum Beth was travelling home after visiting Blackpool Illuminations with Faye in the back seat. The crash occurred near to junction 28, as Beth found herself facing Terence’s Porsche. Faye died in the crash.
The inquest into Terence’s death this week heard the 79-year-old indicated right, after joining the M6. He then performed a U-turn and proceeded to drive the wrong way down the southbound carriageway.
The court[6] heard his actions seemed to be “deliberate”. Having watched CCTV of Terence joining the motorway – footage which was not played in court – Assistant Coroner Richard Taylor said: “He doesn’t meander. He stops and simply turns. It seems to be a deliberate action.”
The inquest heard from crash investigator PC Rachel Carberry who said the footage showed two cars in front of Beth’s Vauxhall prior to the crash. Referring to Terence’s actions she said: “He has entered the sliproad correctly then when he got to the give way lines he has stopped, indicated and done a U-turn. It was a clear and obvious turn in the wrong direction.
“There were two vehicles in front of Miss Dawson, around 900 metres prior to the collision, they moved out of that lane but I don’t have any evidence to say when that occurred [as they were obscured by a HGV). It was completely impossible for Miss Dawson to avoid that collision.”
PC Carberry added the motorway had been well-lit at the time of the collision. The road surface was also dry and had no defects. Although Terence’s Porsche was “severely damaged by the fire” she could find no faults with the car to account for the crash.
A post mortem, carried out by Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour, found that Terence – who had been fitted with a pacemaker around 10 years earlier – had suffered an acute myocardial thrombus and his coronary arteries were “severely narrowed”. But the court was told the potential side-effects of confusion and disorientation could not explain his seemingly intentional actions.
Dr Armour said: “The histology identified severe narrowing and it also identified severe calcification. Calcification is a degenerative age-related change.”
Other than the post mortem findings, and reference to Terence’s pacemaker, no other medical history was heard during the inquest. Returning a conclusion of road traffic accident, Assistant Coroner Richard Taylor said: “I think the difficulty with instances such as these is that we would all like to understand Mr Unsworth’s decision-making but it seems that we will never be able to do that.
“I have seen the CCTV and there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about his driving except for the decision, not only to indicate to turn right, but to perform a U-turn and proceed down the motorway the wrong way.”
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References
- ^ Faye Dawson (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Wallasey (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ LancsLive. (www.lancs.live)
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- ^ Ashley Dale murder trial as it happens (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ court (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)