Mother crashed into lorry on A41 while in extreme anxiety and distress, inquest told

Nichola Jane Davies, 35, and her daughter Amelia Skye Davies died at the scene of the tragedy, which happened on the A41 between Rosehill and Hinstock in Shropshire on February 15, 2022.

At the inquest into their deaths, held at the Shirehall in Shrewsbury on Thursday, senior coroner for Shropshire, Mr John Ellery, heard that Ms Davies of Park Road, Donnington, had left her home with Amelia - who was a twin - saying that she was taking her daughter to hospital as she was unwell.

He said the collision happened just after midnight involving Ms Davies' Ford Focus being driven towards Whitchurch and a Volvo HGV being driven by Mr Luke Stevens in the opposite direction.

Ms Davies suffered multiple traumatic injuries while Amelia, who had been in her car seat in the rear of the car, had head injuries. Mr Stevens was not physically injured.

Police vehicle investigator, Mr Ian Edwards, in his report, said that dashcam footage from the lorry showed that on approach the car had been partially on the wrong side of the road, and by the time of the impact was wholly on the wrong side.

Mr Stevens had driven up onto the verge to try to avoid the collision.

"It is clear that Nichola has crossed over into the path of the HGV," Mr Ellery said.

The coroner read the evidence of Ms Davies' eldest daughter, Kaci Ames,who said that her mother had been in an emotional state.

The daughter said she heard her mother get up in the middle of the night, leave the house and start up her car.

When she asked her what was happening, her mother said she was taking Amelia to hospital as she wasn't well.

Mr Ellery said: "No-one can know Nichola's state of mind at the time of the collision. There is no evidence that she intended any harm to Amelia. In fact there is evidence that she was a good mum."

He said there had been nothing that the lorry driver could do to avoid the collision.

The coroner said that he was giving a narrative conclusion that both Nichola and Amelia died when Nichola drove into the path of the HGV while suffering extreme anxiety and distress.

"I give my condolence to the family - everyone has suffered as a result of this," he said.

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