A5 crash victims died in 100mph sports car collision, inquest told
A married couple were killed along with the young driver of a high-powered sports car after it hit their Ford Mondeo at more than 100mph, an inquest heard.
Malcolm Parry, 75, and his wife Pat, 73, were travelling on the A5 near Oswestry on October 11 last year when they were involved in a collision with a Nissan 370Z, being driven by Lee Edwards, 24, in the opposite direction.
The Parrys were pronounced dead at the scene at West Felton and Mr Edwards, a father-of-one, died from his injuries in hospital the next day.
Shropshire Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Edwards, a machine operator from Dovaston, Kinnerley, near the Shropshire/Wales border, was on his way to Shrewsbury to meet a friend at around 10.30pm.
He was observed by other motorists as “straddling the white lines while driving at high speed” and also taking a roundabout too fast.
In one statement read out by coroner’s officer Mel Dawson, a driver estimated Mr Edwards’ speed to be between 100 and 120mph.
One driver described the car speeding away from him at around 120mph before he later came across the collision aftermath.
Facts
Coroner John Ellery said that evidence had been provided showing that a phone was found in the footwell of Mr Edwards’ car.
A police officer gave evidence to confirm that, while Mr Edwards did take two calls just before the collision, he was not on the phone at the time of the crash and his car had hands-free capabilities.
Mr Ellery said: “An inquest is a fact-finding exercise. The facts appear to speak for themselves.”
He recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision for the deaths of Mr and Mrs Parry as well as Mr Edwards.
Mr Parry was a retired paint sprayer and Mrs Parry was a retired nurse.
They had four children and lived together in Wilfred Owen Road in Oswestry.
Family, friends and neighbours of the Parrys attended the hearing.
Mrs Parry’s brother Mark Spicer said: “They were together for 30 years. My sister had a tough life growing up but they were very happy together. They were very popular.”
Mr Edwards' family chose not to attend the inquest.
