A coroner has offered heartfelt sympathy to the family of a young Eden farming man who died in a head-on crash on the A66 close to his home at Warcop.
Ryan Hindson, aged 25, was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-vehicle crash on the afternoon of Saturday, 9th April, 2022.
Dash cam footage showed Mr Hindson’s Subaru Forester being driven perfectly within its eastbound lane two seconds before the impact with a westbound lorry at around 3-20pm. But at an inquest into his death on Tuesday, assistant coroner for Cumbria Robert Cohen said: “Thereafter the vehicle is seen to swerve towards the wrong side of the road, crossing unbroken white lines, driving towards the HGV.”
A police collision investigator concluded the wagon driver acted appropriately and reacted to the oncoming Subaru in a “timely and efficient manner”. But, despite trying to take evasive action, it was impossible for the trucker to stop in time.
Two trained doctors — a husband and wife — whose vehicle was caught up in congestion which followed, offered help in the aftermath. They performed CPR and a defibrillator was also used in a bid to try and save Mr Hindson, who was pronounced dead at the scene 31 minutes after the collision.
He was very badly hurt, with the cause of death recorded as head injuries. Post mortem testing also revealed Mr Hindson had taken cocaine prior to driving and, an expert concluded, it was likely this illegal drug would have adversely affected his cognitive and driving abilities. However, it was not possible to conclude to what extent this was the case.
It was “unlikely that this court will ever be able to say precisely why” Mr Hindson’s vehicle had veered from its lane into the path of the HGV, observed Mr Cohen.
The inquest heard a statement from Mr Hindson’s mother, Karen. She said he had attended Appleby’s primary and secondary schools, showed a keen interest in the countryside pastime of beating and “absolutely loved being outdoors”. He studied agriculture at Newton Rigg College, near Penrith, and gained work as a farm labourer which, she said, was “all he ever wanted to do.”
After leaving college he worked for a tree surgeon and then gained more farm work in the Appleby area. “It was his dream job, driving tractors all day long,” his mother said. That employment ended and he lost his driving licence in 2019 following a drug-drive offence. For a time he worked with his father, Paul, a builder.
However, he later returned to farm work at Kirkby Thore and had formed a relationship with partner Ellie Slattie. “Ryan absolutely worshipped the ground that Ellie walked on” said his mother.
Mr Hindson was prescribed medication for social anxiety and thought he had “let everyone down” with his drug-drive crime, said his mother. But a friend said that around the time of his death he had spoken of being in “the best place” and “as happy as he had ever been”.
The family had been to watch comedian Jimmy Carr at Carlisle the night before the crash. He seemed really happy and woke early for work the next morning but returned home at 8-30am to 9am “feeling rough”. He made himself a fry-up, went upstairs to bed and came back down at around 2-30pm, saying he was going out. He put his wellies on, got in his car and left. The inquest heard the purpose of his journey was unknown.
Mr Cohen concluded that Mr Hindson had died as a result of a road traffic collision.
“This was a young man, passionate about farming and I’m sure very greatly missed by all who knew and loved him,” said Mr Cohen. “I hope that it goes without saying that I am extremely sorry for Mr Hindson’s family and friends. To lose somebody so young must be a dreadful blow and they have my very profound sympathy.”
