Little Paxton family suffer 'extraordinary tragedy' inquest told

Marion Bunyan (l) and her daughter Jennifer Bunyan died when their car crashed into a ditch

A family suffered an "extraordinary tragedy" after three generations drowned in a water-filled ditch, a coroner has said.

Marion Bunyan, 54, and her daughter Jennifer Bunyan, 24, died after their car left Puddock Road, near Warboys, in Cambridgeshire.

Miss Bunyan's unborn child, Erin Chatten, also died as a result.

Coroner David Heming concluded the death was due to a road traffic collision.

Mr Heming said it was "extraordinary to see a family visited with a tragedy such as this."

The inquest at Peterborough Town Hall heard Jennifer Bunyan was driving the car on 7 June 2020 at about 11.30 BST when it left the road.

It was found upside down and submerged in a water-filled ditch known as Crease Drain by Cambridgeshire Police about an hour later.

Giving evidence, former Cambridgeshire police officer Simon Burgin said tyre marks on the road indicated the driver had steered an incorrect course before it left the single-lane carriageway.

No other vehicles were involved and the women, from Little Paxton, St Neots, were in a silver Nissan Qashqai at the time.

None of the airbags had deployed but no mechanical defects were found to the car, he said.

"It is possible she was momentarily distracted and steered an incorrect path," the former collision investigator said.

The emergency services did not attend until an hour after the car was reported going into the ditch by a passing driver.

The fire service released the women's bodies from the car and both were declared dead at the scene.

Answering questions from the family, the officer said it was unlikely the outcome would have been different had the emergency services arrived any earlier.

There have been four deaths in five years on the 60mph (97km/h) limit road, the inquest heard. All of the fatal accidents involved vehicles entering the ditch.

The hearing was told Paul Bunyan, Marion's husband and Jennifer's father, died last year in a road accident.

Miss Bunyan who was engaged at the time of her death, also had a son, now aged six.

Miss Bunyan's brother, George Bunyan told the inquest his "wonderful nephew had lost more than the rest of us".

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