Harrowing inquest hears how driver died in collision near Twinlakes

The body of Kristian William Stobart, who lived at Hose, was found pinned under a Fiat Punto several hours after it hit a kerb, span and struck a tree in the early hours of August 24 last year.

Loughborough Coroner’s Court was told that Mr Stobart had taken cocaine and heroin several hours before the crash, as well as therapeutic drugs, and was not wearing his seat belt when it happened.

Twinlakes employee, Andy Richards, told the hearing that he discovered the body when he arrived for work at around 7.45am.

He said: “I saw the car in a field adjacent to some bushes.

“Most of the windows were broken in the car, there was no boot on it and there were lots of clothing all around it.

“I went up to the car and looked down and saw a man lying under it.

“It was eerily quiet and it had not just happened in my opinion because the car was silent.”

The inquest heard that Mr Stobart had been travelling along Melton Spinney Road, in the direction of Melton, when it appeared he lost control of the vehicle close to the entrance of Twinlakes.

Pc Dan Jarvis, a forensic collision investigator for Leicestershire Police told the hearing: “The casualty was lying face face down with his head and shoulders under the driver’s door having been ejected from the vehicle.

“The vehicle had suffered severe impact and the tailgate was detached after it struck a tree.

“Mr Stobart was ejected from the vehicle after it went into a rapid rotation and, from the evidence at the scene, he was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the incident.

“It is most likely that he was driving at an excessive speed while negotiating the left hand bend and lost control of the vehicle.”

Professor Guy Rutty, chief forensic pathologist at the East Midlands Forensic Pathology Unit, carried out a post mortem on Mr Stobart’s body at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

He told the hearing that the injuries were consistent with being crushed by the vehicle and that he died from crush asphyxia.

“Mr Stobart was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident but he had used cocaine and heroin prior to death, along with a number of therapeutic drugs,” said Professor Rutty.

“The combination of these drugs could have impaired his cognitive and motor function and it could have impaired his ability to drive.

“I would say the drugs had been taken several hours before the incident and not immediately before it.”

Mr Stobart had made a phone call to a friend at 2.17am on the night of the accident, the hearing was told, and he was on his way to Melton to pay money he owed him.

The friend said in a statement, which was read out: “When I last spoke to Kristian he sounded his normal self, happy and easy-going.”

A statement was also read out from Mr Stobart’s mother, Margaret Doody, in which she said her son, and his daughter, were staying with her on the night of the collision.

She said that he had suffered problems with drugs but had been seeking help to stop take them.

Mrs Doody said her son had taken sleeping pills that night to help him sleep and she last saw him at 11pm.

She discovered he had gone out later that night but she couldn’t reach him on his mobile phone.

At the end of the inquest, Coroner Carolyn Hull found that Mr Stobart died as a result of a road traffic collision.

And addressing his family members at the hearing, she added: “I would like to offer my condolences for the loss of a young man who had his life before him with a young family.”