OAP killed

AN 84-year-old woman died just a few hundred yards away from her home when she was hit by a car reversing at speed, an inquest heard.

Doris Linn, of Cranfield Road, was struck by a Citroen C2 driven by James Tapley as she walked north along Eversley Road on March 21.

She died at the Conquest Hospital of multiple injuries, the most serious of which being a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

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Witnesses told of an engine scream 'like the start of a race' as the vehicle mounted the kerb while attempting to reverse into a space.

Three other cars, a Mini, Toyota and Rover, were damaged along with a bike. A small wall on the east side of Eversley Road was partly demolished. The elderly driver was unhurt.

Witness Barry Popkin, who was driving up Eversley Road, said: "The last I saw of him (Mr Tapley and his car) he was 45 degrees into a parking space and in my view quite right.

"Then I heard a very high revving and acceleration, the equivalent of somebody starting a race and flooring the accelerator.

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"That's the last I saw of it. It must have gone on the pavement, it was no longer there."

Legal executive Sylvia Henty, who works at solicitors Gaby Hardwicke opposite the scene, witnessed the accident at 9.05am.

"I heard this roar of an engine. I turned straight round to see this car, I now know as a Citroen, on the other side of the road from me.

"It was already up on the pavement and proceeded right along the pavement.

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"He just screamed really fast down the road. At that stage I saw the lady coming up the road and then she vanished. She might not have even seen him coming, it happened so quickly."

Ms Henty estimated Mrs Linn had been thrown, "10 or 15 feet " by the collision.

After knocking on her office window for an ambulance, she ran to the stricken pedestrian.

Due to ill health, Mr Tapley could not appear at the inquest. A summary of his statement to police was read.

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Mr Tapley, 73, said his semi-automatic car had "developed a tendency to shoot backwards when setting off." He had taken it to the garage where it was purchased but they could find no fault.

A crash investigation by the Sussex Road Policing Division found no fault with the car.

The report said the vehicle had travelled backwards along the pavement hitting a wall, bicycle, the parked Mini and pushed the parked Toyota into a Rover before hitting Mrs Linn.

It concluded: "This collision has all the hallmarks of the wrong pedal being pressed as the vehicle travelled some distance out of control."

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Coroner Alan Craze said: "I'm very conscious of the fact this tragedy will have a considerable impact not just on the family of the deceased but Mr Tapley and his family."

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.