Katelyn Dawson inquest hears crash driver's decisions reasonable

Katelyn Dawson was waiting for a school bus on the morning of the crash

A forensic collision investigator has defended a driver who suffered a medical episode behind the wheel and killed a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Katelyn Dawson was struck as she waited for a school bus on Wakefield Road, Huddersfield, on 10 January 2018.

Mark Hargreaves told her inquest at Bradford Coroner's Court he did not think driver Richard Brooke's decision not to pull over when he began to feel unwell was "unreasonable".

The inquest continues.

On Tuesday, the hearing was told Mr Brooke, now 57, had planned to pull over at a Tesco petrol station on Wakefield Road located beyond the bus stop where the crash happened.

Asked by Senior Coroner Martin Fleming's counsel Philip Simms if that decision was reasonable, Mr Hargreaves said the location "would have been an appropriate place for him to have found to stop".

He added that it would have also been possible to pull over on the road, telling the court: "It would depend on how severe the symptoms were and how ill Mr Brooke felt".

Mr Hargreaves said he personally "may have considered" stopping before the garage, but added: "I wouldn't know as I hadn't been suffering the same symptoms."

Asked by Mr Simms if Mr Brooke's decision to carry on driving "was so outside the norm as to be unreasonable", he replied: "I don't think so."

'Tunnel vision'

Mr Brooke, from Fenay Bridge in Huddersfield, was not prosecuted because he was believed to have suffered a medical episode while at the wheel.

He previously told the hearing had no recollection of the crash.

In his evidence, Mr Brooke said he had begun to feel "nauseous and got tunnel vision" as he returned home along Wakefield Road after dropping his son off at school.

On Wednesday, the inquest is due to hear evidence from medical professionals, as well as submissions from the forensic pathologist who conducted Katelyn's inquest.