A55 Anglesey: Man crushed by lorry as he crawled from crash

Ciaran Michael Murray was generous, loving, kind and sensitive, his family said

A man died after he was crushed by a lorry as he was crawling away from his crashed car, an inquest has heard.

Ciaran Michael Murray's car had collided with a road sign on the A55 on Anglesey late on 6 August.

Witnesses saw Mr Murray, 35, crawling "like a crocodile" across the westbound carriageway, where he was run over.

At an inquest in Caernarfon, the coroner recorded a narrative verdict because it was unknown whether Mr Murray had intended to kill himself.

The inquest heard it was impossible to determine how badly Mr Murray had been hurt in the first crash, but he was not wearing a seatbelt and would have been injured.

• Tribute to man killed by lorry after leaving car

• Man killed by lorry after leaving car

Emma Dainty, a forensic collision investigator for North Wales Police, told the hearing: "The road sign was extensively damaged. The poles are set deep into concrete, but were bent at right angles to their normal position.

"We don't know if he was thrown out of the car or managed to crawl out.

"The drivers of other cars then saw him crawling across the road towards the centre like a crocodile, and stopped to raise the alarm.

"The first collision left his car facing the opposite direction to the flow of the traffic, so he may have thought he was crawling to safety."

'Severe impact'

The court heard a lorry driver, who was not called to give evidence, saw the hazard lights of other cars that had stopped and changed lanes to avoid them.

But the darkness meant he did not see Mr Murray in the path of his vehicle until it was too late.

Consultant pathologist Mark Atkinson told the hearing: "His injuries were so massive in the second collision that it's difficult to know what happened.

"But if he wasn't wearing a seat belt, it's inevitable that he would have sustained severe impact in the first collision, to the point where he was only just surviving, rather than making decisions."

Acting senior coroner Kate Sutherland said: "Ciaran Michael Murray had some bad news that day about the health of a family member and had gone out in the car to clear his head.

"But there is no clear evidence that he intended to kill himself."

Mr Murray's family previously described him as generous, loving, kind and sensitive.