Mother died in farm collision near Welshpool, inquest told

Megan Andrew died on September 25, 2018 at her family's farm at Bwlch Aeddan, Maesmawr near Welshpool.

Mrs Andrew, along with her husband Graham and son Neil were collecting logs from a wooded area on the day of the accident, an inquest at Welshpool Town Hall heard.

As Mrs Andrew and her husband prepared to head back to the farm in their Gator vehicle, the Manitou telehandler with her son inside the cab rolled down a slope.

"The only thing I could hear was Meg shouting 'look out', I hadn't realised that she'd gone out of the Gator," Graham Andrew told the hearing on Tuesday (September 14).

"Next thing I saw was the Manitou bouncing.

"I didn't know where she was. Neil jumped out and said 'where's mum?' It happened so quickly. Everyone was in shock."

Welshpool Town Hall. Picture: Alan Hughes/Geograph.org

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 2.30pm, but despite the best efforts of the medics, Mrs Andrew was pronounced dead at 3.40pm.

She was taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital where pathologist Dr Angus McGregor found that she had instantly died from neck and chest injuries.

Neil Andrew told the inquest that after turning the key of the telehandler he heard a noise that he thought was the engine firing up.

He said the vehicle had then "cut out" and thought he tried the handbrake and had no response from the foot brake.

"It was too late, I had already collided into my mother," he said.

Health and Safety Executive mechanical engineer Darren Nash, who carried tests on the vehicle, told the hearing that the relatively new machine was found in a "very good" condition and working "very efficiently" with no faults logged in the on-board control system.

He said the parking brake alone came to a "rapid halt" during tests.

"My gut feeling is that it would stop the wheels but it may slide," Mr Nash said.

The inquest is expected to be concluded on Thursday.