A dad killed after he was hit by a piece of metal which fell 'from the sky' during Storm Eunice was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' a coroner has said. Retired Royal Mail worker Stephen Matthews, 68, was in the front passenger seat of a Citroen van on February 18 when the 15ft piece of metal pierced the windscreen of the vehicle and struck him in the neck, an inquest heard.
The father-of-two had been travelling home to Aintree, Merseyside, after helping his friend with gardening work when the incident happened shortly after 2pm on the Switch Island junction in Netherton. A police road traffic report by Sergeant Steve Smith said the piece of debris 'appeared from the sky' before hitting the van.
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Assistant coroner for Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens Simon Holder said: "This was just an awful, terrible, tragic accident in which this man, Stephen Matthews, sustained an injury to his neck by happening to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If but for the storm would this have happened?
"I very much doubt it. We just don’t know what fate has in store for any of us."
Storm Eunice brought strong winds which caused dangerous conditions across the country in February. Mr Holder said the piece of cladding, which came off the refrigeration unit of a HGV travelling in the opposite direction, could have landed anywhere but hit the windscreen of the vehicle Mr Matthews was travelling in and resulted in a catastrophic injury.
He said the driver of the HGV was unaware of the metal coming off the vehicle until he inspected it days later. After investigating, Merseyside Police decided not to pursue any prosecutions as officers found no evidence of dangerous or careless driving or that the vehicle was in a dangerous condition, the hearing was told.
The inquest heard statements from other drivers that day who described strong winds of what one estimated must have been 70 or 80mph. Witness Stephen Gilby said he had seen the metal cladding 'floating' in the air in a 'feather-type motion', as high as the top of street lights, before it came rapidly down towards the van.
The hearing was told Mr Matthews’s friend Billy Cooper, who was driving, heard a 'massive bang' and saw an explosion of glass. In a statement read to the hearing, Mr Cooper said he assumed they had been hit by a brick and he stopped the van.
He started shaking Mr Matthews and shouting, but was unable to get a response, he said. Deborah Symons, who was passing with her family, said she saw Mr Cooper trying to stop traffic and when her husband asked if they could help he said: "I can’t wake my mate."
In her statement, she described calling 999 and giving assistance to Mr Matthews, including using items of clothing to try and stop the bleeding. The coroner praised the efforts of passers-by who tried to help Mr Matthews, including an off-duty doctor and nurse who later stopped at the scene.
He said: "I am just humbled, it is incredibly impressive." The inquest heard Mr Matthews was taken to Aintree Hospital by ambulance where he died a short time later.
Mr Holder said the cause of death was neck trauma and he recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
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