A grandmother from north Wales died after the family car she was getting out of rolled back down the driveway and pinned her to the ground. June Murray was a passenger in her son's partner's black Ford Kuga when the accident occurred on December 18, 2020.
The 76-year-old had been picked up from her home on Woodside Avenue in Sandy Cove, Kinmel Bay, to come and stay the night with her son and his partner at their home on Conway Road just off the A470 in Llandudno - something she would do every other Friday. On their way to Llandudno the pair stopped at a McDonald's to pick up takeaway meals, North Wales Live reports.
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Georgine Elizabeth Jones went into the house on Conway Road with the food, leaving Mrs Murray in the car. As she went back towards the car however, Ms Jones said she saw the passenger door open and heard Mrs Murray shouting as the car was rolling backwards.
In a statement read out at an inquest held at Ruthin County Hall on Wednesday, June 1, Ms Jones said she saw Mrs Murray fall to the ground as the car began to roll over her. She said the car stopped rolling as the front near wheel got onto Mrs Murray's body. As the accident unfolded, Ms Jones said she was initially unsure what to do before she slowly moved the car off Mrs Murray using the bite of the clutch.
The accident took place at 6.18pm and a large emergency response arrived at the scene shortly afterwards. A critical care practitioner who arrived at the scene at 6.59pm as part of the air ambulance rapid response said that Mrs Murray had suffered injuries to her chest, pelvis, spine and had to be given a blood transfusion before being taken in the ambulance.
Mrs Murray then went into cardiac arrest and could not be saved despite resuscitation efforts on the way to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at 7.47pm at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in Rhyl. The findings of a post-mortem examination conducted by Dr Muhammad Aslam found cause of death was acute heart failure due to heart disease and chest injury.
Gordon Saynor, a forensic collision investigator for North Wales Police, appeared as witness at the inquest. Mr Saynor said there were no mechanical defects with the Ford Kuga and while conditions at the scene on December 18 were wet, the environment was discounted as a causal factor in the accident.
Ms Jones said in her statement that about a year earlier the car had rolled down the driveway and onto the A470 dual carriageway. The car had been parked by her son on that occasion with the handbrake pulled up but this could not be considered as part of the investigation due to a lack of evidence, Mr Saynor said.
Kate Sutherland, assistant coroner for North Wales east and central, said the accident occurred after Mrs Murray "got out of an initially stationary vehicle which, for reasons unknown, collided with her as she exited" . Ms Sutherland said the incident, which she described as a "tremendous tragedy", was completely unintended and unexpected and concluded that the death was an accident.
June Murray's family have described her as an "independent and determined" woman. Outside the court, the family said her death was a "tragic accident" before expressing their gratitude to the coroner, the emergency services, and Mr Saynor in particular for his thorough investigation.
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