A tragic set of circumstances are said to have led to the death of a 87-year-old woman who suffered serious leg injuries after being run over by a van driver who was under the influence of drugs.
Muriel Hammett was struck by a Ford transit scaffolding van while crossing Fore Street – the main road through Cullompton – on November 4, 2021. The 87-year-old was taken by ambulance to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (RD&E) and initially made a good recovery and was transferred to Tiverton Community Hospital for rehabilitation.
However, the widow, who was born in Bovey Tracey and lived in Cullompton, contracted Covid and a chest infection developed into pneumonia. She sadly passed away at the RD&E on January 7, 2022, surrounded by her loved ones.
An inquest at Exeter Coroners Court on January 16 this year heard that the driver of the van, Darren Harmsworth, was prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs but not for causing her death due to a combination of factors that contributed to the incident and her later death.
The officer in the case, DC John Greathead, said based on evidence from a forensic collision investigation report, those factors included the actions of both the driver and pedestrian, and the weather.
Mr Harmsworth was arrested at the scene on suspicion of being unfit to drive through drugs. Blood results showed he had been under the influence of cannabis and ketamine. However, CCTV footage showed no evidence his driving was below the standard of a careful and competent driver, and he had immediately braked and stopped after colliding with Mrs Hammett.
At the time of impact, the van had been driving towards bright sunlight as Mrs Hammett exited a narrow alleyway into an area of shadow. CCTV footage from the scene showed she only looked once to her right and at that point she was not near to the edge of the pavement.
She was said to have then walked straight out onto the road to cross and at the same time the van pulled off from its stationary position having been held up just before a pedestrian crossing waiting for the traffic up ahead to clear due to a lorry doing a delivery blocking the road in front.
Mrs Hammett was about a third of a way across the road when the van’s nearside wing mirror hit her head causing her to fall to the ground and her legs to be run over. The footage showed she had decided not to use the pedestrian crossing but was not the only person to fail to do so.
DC John Greathead said: “A pedestrian crossing was close by, but we will never know why she chose not to use this.”
The scene of the crash where Muriel Hammett was run over on November 4, 2021
(Image: Submitted)
The inquest heard that Mr Harmsworth was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to lesser criminal offences of driving while under the influence of drugs. DC John Greathead said the more serious offences such as causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit, and causing death by careless and inconsiderate driving, could not be pursued through the courts due to the combination of factors surrounding the incident.
The medical cause of Mrs Hammett’s death was cryptogenic organising pneumonia after hospital acquired pneumonia in a woman with Covid infection, and hospitalisation for run over injuries to both legs.
Recording a narrative conclusion, assistant coroner Deborah Archer said: “The deceased died from hospital acquired pneumonia while recovering from injuries sustained in a road traffic collision on November 4, 2021, when she was struck by motor vehicle when the driver was under the influence of drugs.”