Army vehicle's faulty steering led to fatal crash

Catherine Moore's family members were present during the conclusion of her inquest

A defective steering system on an Army vehicle contributed to a crash that killed a woman, a coroner has said.

Catherine Moore, 73, died at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on 3 June 2022, two days after being involved in a three-car collision on the A11 near Icklingham, Suffolk.

An Army Land Rover crashed into a lorry, which caused the lorry to overturn and smash into the Porsche in which the mother-of-four from Hertfordshire was travelling.

Coroner Dr Daniel Sharpstone ruled the primary cause of the crash was the Land Rover's "chronically" damaged steering, which he said "contributed more than minimally" to the crash.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it acknowledged the coroner's verdict and accepted their findings.

Lost control

On 1 June Mrs Moore was driving towards Thetford, Norfolk, when L/Cpl Jack Coker was travelling in the Land Rover towards Mildenhall, Suffolk.

In the moments before the incident, the Land Rover became "difficult to control and correct" and eyewitnesses reported seeing it "swaying from side to side".

The collision occurred when L/Cpl Coker went to overtake a lorry and had to sharply pull to the left after his vehicle veered too close central reservation.

The court heard this lack of steering control would have been "exacerbated by the defective steering" system of the Land Rover, and the vehicle subsequently overturned.

The contact between the two vehicles caused the lorry to crash through the central reservation and overturn, before "crushing" Mrs Moore's Porsche.

Mrs Moore was taken to hospital in an air ambulance and died two days later.

She was described during the hearing at Suffolk Coroner's Court as "kind, caring, funny, thoughtful, full of life" and always being "up for and adventure".

The crash occurred on the A11 when an Army Land Rover collided with a lorry, which then struck Mrs Moore's car

During the inquest the court was told that, while L/Cpl Coker had carried out checks on the vehicle prior to using it, defects with its steering system had previously been identified.

The court was told in the months before the crash, the Land Rover had passed the Army's version of an MOT.

Dr Sharpstone said the steering had "major faults" and the MoD's maintenance and repair of the vehicle was "substandard" and "inadequate".

He also raised concerns about James, a system used by the MoD which holds information about its vehicles and the work carried out on them.

He suggested the system posed "a risk to the life" of those who drive MoD vehicles and other road users and said he would file a Prevention of Future Deaths Report.

In a statement, Mrs Moore's children said: "We are extremely disappointed that the MoD put such a dangerous and poorly maintained vehicle on the road, which subsequently lead to the death of our mother."

"If [the vehicle] was in a good state of repair, our mother would still be with us today.

"We hope the MoD get the support they clearly need to ensure all their vehicles are safe and roadworthy, so that another person doesn't have to lose their life and another family does not have to endure the horrific, unimaginable loss that myself and family have had to suffer."

"The death of Catherine Moore was a tragedy, and our thoughts and sympathies are with her family and friends at this difficult time," a MoD spokesperson said.

"We will look to action any recommendations made by the coroner as a result of this inquest."