According to an inquiry, a grandmother was murdered by her own family’s automobile when she slipped beneath it as it abruptly went backwards down the driveway.
June Murray, 76, was riding shotgun in a black Ford Kuga on her way to her son’s house for the weekend.
However, catastrophe struck when June slipped out of the car as she was exiting it and it began to roll backwards down the driveway.
Georgina Jones, her son’s boyfriend, was driving but could only look on in despair, according to an inquiry.
June had just gotten out of the car after Georgina had just put a takeaway food in the home.
She said she was ‘certain’ the handbrake lever was up, but the coroner said it was impossible to know if it was fully applied.
June shouted out while she fell to the floor but the car started to roll over her on her son’s driveway in the seaside town of Llandudno, North Wales.
In a statement, Georgina said she had taken the family’s takeaway food into the house before returning to see the horrific accident.
She said: ‘As I came out of the house, I saw the passenger door open, but I didn’t sense the car moving.
‘But then June shouted ‘George, George’, and I saw the car starting to roll backwards.
‘She fell to the ground under the car. I thought it was going to run over her head, but it just stopped. I tried to run round and stop the car, but couldn’t.
‘I know for certain that the handbrake lever was up; it was still up when I went back to the car to help get it away from June.’
The inquest in Ruthin, North Wales, heard June had been left pinned against the passenger side front wheel.
Georgina slowly moved the car off June using the bite of the clutch before paramedics arrived at the scene.
June was rushed to the Ysbyty Glan Clwyd hospital in December 2020 but died from her injuries to her chest.
Her daughter Maria Leach described her mum an a ‘energetic and independent’ woman who loved her family.
The inquest heard she suffered heart disease and scoliosis of the spine – which made it difficult for her to survive the injuries.
A post-mortem carried out by Dr Muhammad Aslam found a cause of death of acute heart failure due to heart disease and chest injury.
North Wales Police forensic collision investigator Gordon Saynor said parts of the handbrake were sent away for examination but no defects were found.
He added: ‘There was slight rutting across the drive at the front of the house from where the ground had settled following building work in the past.
‘When the front wheels of the car were in this trench, the car would roll if pressure was applied and the handbrake was not engaged, or was only on by one or two notches.’
Assistant coroner Kate Sutherland recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
She said: ‘The evidence doesn’t disclose whether the handbrake was not applied or whether it was ineffectively applied.
‘This was completely unintended and completely unexpected, so a conclusion of accidental death is appropriate.’