'Wonderful' father died in crash while walking home on A41
A "wonderful" father-of-two was fatally injured in a crash on a dark stretch of road as he walked home to his family, an inquest has heard.
Pedestrian Hayden Adams was heading to Codsall after Christmas drinks in Birmingham when he was struck by a Mercedes GTA on the A41 near Albrighton.
Investigators believe the 53-year-old fell asleep on the train and missed his stop, instead getting off in Cosford and walking about three miles before the fatal crash.
Mr Adams' father Keith paid tribute to his son during the corporate banking director's inquest.
He said: "Hayden was a wonderful person, superb character.
"If anyone had attended his funeral, they would have found out what a popular person he was.
"He thought the world of his family. It's a tragic incident."
Christmas drinks
Mr Adams, from Codsall, left work at about 4pm before drinking with HSBC colleagues in Birmingham city centre.
He then met a friend two hours later and was in "good spirits" but left unexpectedly at about 9.45pm when his friend went to the toilet.
Pc Ann Waterhouse, of Staffordshire Police's collision investigation unit, told the inquest: "This was unusual, out of character. They had not parted ways formally.
"Hayden was going to get the train home and planned to get off at the stop at Codsall Railway Station.
"We know from evidence that this didn't occur. We are assuming that he may have fallen asleep on the train and missed the planned stop - and in fact he got off the train at Cosford, two stops away."
Walking home
It is believed Mr Adams left Cosford railway station at 11pm, walking past RAF Cosford before passing a service station about 13 minutes later.
Several witnesses spotted him walking on the unlit A41 towards Wolverhampton and were forced to take "avoiding action" to prevent a collision.
He was walking about two metres from the nearside kerb and was not using the public footpath on the opposite side of the carriageway, the inquest was told.
But the driver of the Mercedes GTA said she "did not see" Mr Adams, who was wearing a dark grey suit, pink shirt and black shoes as he walked with his back to the traffic.
The woman, who had not been drinking, became "hysterical" following the crash just after midnight and was taken to hospital with severe shock.
She told police she was driving at the 60mph speed limit but investigators believe she may have been driving even slower.
A post-mortem report concluded Mr Adams died of multiple injuries, with toxicology results stating he was almost two-times the drink-drive limit.
Assistant coroner Margaret Jones recorded a conclusion of misadventure at Cannock Coroner's Court on Tuesday.
She said: "It would have been impossible really for the driver to avoid a collision with Hayden."
