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”.
Witnesses had described seeing an elderly woman, who had been very close to the wheel, driving the car at the time of the collision. The findings of a report by the forensic investigations unit found that given the driver’s height and seat position she would have only had “a fraction of a second” where she would have seen Mr Beardsley in the road.
The inquest heard how the driver’s seat was lower than it should have been, as slightly increasing the height of the seat would have improved visibility significantly. Five months before the incident the woman’s daughter had raised concerns with her mother’s GP about her memory and concern over her mum driving.
Doctor James Spooner, a then partner-GP at Wheatfield General Practice told how in his last face-to-face consultation with the driver they had agreed she would get taxis instead of driving while awaiting the results from a memory clinic. But three months later in a phone consultation, the driver told Dr Spooner she felt safe driving.
Area Coroner Peter Nieto said that this phone consultation was a missed opportunity and that the GP could have checked this with the driver's daughter. Following the incident, a police investigation was launched and the driver was initially taken to the police station.
She was not interviewed by police as she was thought to be unfit to be interviewed. A psychiatrist also concluded that she would be unfit to enter a plea to trial, leading the CPS to decide against prosecution, despite having sufficient evidence.
Mr Nieto concluded that Mr Beardsley's death was an accident. He also amended the medical cause of death so it states that Mr Beardsley died as a result of chest and abdominal injuries as well as the use of synthetic cannabinoids.
Speaking after the hearing, Mr Beardsley's mother Lynne Richardson spoke fondly about how her son had been in a good place in the months leading up to his death. "He got on well with all his social workers and he had a great sense of humour."
Mr Beardsley's sister Cara added: "He was into music, loved playing his guitar. He wanted to get better, his social workers said he was wanting to get back in touch with his family.
"He wasn't much trouble and would have a good chat with people. He was quite well-known around town." Ross Beardsley's inquest was held at Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday January 16, 2023.
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