Death of West Kirby man not caused by alcohol

Apr 30 2008 by Matt Hurst, Wallasey News

ALCOHOL played no part in the freak death of a Wirral father of three working in the Middle East, despite Kuwaiti medical reports to the contrary.

Simon White, 45, died in July 2005 when his Range Rover suddenly, from a standing start, flew forward across two lanes of traffic, over a low wall and into parked cars below, inflicting multiple injuries.

At an inquest into his death at Wallasey Town Hall on Friday, Coroner Christopher Johnson heard Mr White had returned to Kuwait airport from a business trip to Dubai on July 14, 2005.

He had left his Range Rover at the airport to be valeted while he was away, and at 7.12pm waited outside the terminal building for his car to be returned.

The inquest heard that Mr White got into his car and started the engine before the vehicle “careered forward across a road, struck a kerb, crashed through a road sign, before hitting a low wall and going over it into vehicles parked below”.

The former West Kirby resident was then taken to hospital where he died from his injuries.

A post mortem examination carried out in Kuwait revealed Mr White had 0.06mg per 100 millilitres of alcohol in his blood.

Attending the inquest, his brother, David White, took issue with the result and asked Arrowe Park pathologist Dr Alastair Clark about his findings from a separate post mortem examination.

Dr Clark told the inquest: “To infer that the deceased was under the influence of alcohol is rubbish. In order to back that view up, the vitreous humour analysis was zero and I would take that to be the most accurate of all.”

The Coroner criticised Kuwaiti authorities for failing to examine Mr White’s car, saying it was “significant” for an incident that “seems to have no logical explanation”, but added he was satisfied with Dr Clark’s post mortem examination findings.

He said: “I shall record a brief narrative verdict.

“The deceased died from injuries sustained in a road traffic collision.”