An elderly woman who displayed early signs of dementia did not realise she had fatally ran over a man who was lying in the road. Despite having sufficient evidence to prosecute the woman, the Crown Prosecution Service decided she was unfit to stand trial and that it would not be in the public interest, an inquest heard.
Ross Beardsley, originally from Worksop, died on April 6, 2021 from significant chest and abdominal injuries after being run over by a car, as reported by Derbyshire Live. Mr Beardsley, who was described as "well-known around town", had been walking along Malvern Road, Chesterfield when he started behaving erratically and then fell to the ground in the middle of the road – a toxicology report later showed that he had traces of synthetic cannabinoids in his system.
A Ford Focus then hit the 32-year-old as he was on the floor, dragging him some 50 metres up the road. The driver of the vehicle was a 76-year-old woman who had not noticed she had hit anything and proceeded to carry on driving – leaving police at the time to label the incident an “alleged hit-and-run”.
