Father and son drowned when Mercedes entered canal on test drive, inquest hears

Independent

11 hours ago

A father and his teenage son drowned in a canal after a Mercedes they were test driving 'flew off the road' and hit a telegraph pole before becoming submerged upside down in the water, an inquest was told.
Greater Lincolnshire Coroner's Court heard that footballer Cameron Walsh, 16, was messaging his friends about the car in the minutes before it entered the canal running along Tetney Lock Road, Tetney, near Grimsby, Lincolnshire, with his father David Walsh, 40, also in the vehicle.
On Wednesday, the inquest was told emergency services were called at 1.38pm on January 6 last year before Cameron and his father were pronounced dead at 2.58pm and the cause of death for the pair was recorded as drowning.
Assistant coroner for Greater Lincolnshire Marianne Johnson concluded that the father and son died in a road traffic collision and said she would file a prevention of future deaths report.
The inquest, attended by friends and relatives of the pair, heard that fire officers smashed a window in the locked car, which had been hired from a Mercedes dealership, but the father and son were in the water for a 'prolonged' period of time of up to 45 minutes.
A woman who was driving along the road saw the blue Mercedes GLC 300 doing a 'snaking action' and she assumed the driver was 'trying to gain control', the coroner was told.
A statement by Roberta Smith, who made the 999 call, was read to the court in which she said the Mercedes 'flew off the road and into the canal' and it appeared to be 'airborne' before it landed 'roof first' in the water.
Another witness described seeing a blue car being driven 'erratically and at speed', the coroner was told.
The inquest heard that examination of the car found there were no mechanical defects which were likely to have contributed to the crash.
Forensic collision investigator Pc Nick Prestwich told the inquest he cannot say definitively who was driving the car, but the inquest heard Mr Walsh was the only one insured on the vehicle.
Pc Prestwich told the inquest: 'The collision occurred partly due to the manner of driving of the vehicle across an undulating road, at which point the vehicle lost control and entered the verge adjacent to the canal.
'It then traversed across the grass verge before striking the telegraph pole, causing the vehicle to rotate. It carried on travelling into the canal.'
Speaking about CCTV footage of the car on Tetney Lock Road, Pc Prestwich said: 'You can see that vehicle is swerving around on the road surface.
'It appeared to be travelling reasonably fast – whether that was in excess of the speed limit, I don't know. It's my belief the car was driven too fast for the road conditions.'
The investigator said that if Cameron had been driving, his lack of driving experience would have 'exacerbated' the situation.
The coroner concluded that on the balance of probabilities, Mr Walsh was driving the car at the time of the collision.
Cameron messaged one of his friends on Snapchat with a picture of him inside the car before the friend replied 'Whose whip's that?', and the teenager sent his final message at 1.37pm – one minute before the car is believed to have entered the canal, the inquest heard.
He also sent a message to his girlfriend at 1.25pm saying that the car his father hired was 'banging'.
A statement from another friend, whom Cameron was also messaging about the car before the collision, was read to the court and said: 'I knew his parents were thinking about getting a new car. Cameron was messaging me about how much his dad liked the car they were test driving.'
Tetney Lock Road was described to the inquest as a 60mph single track road with 'no road marks' and an 'uneven' and 'undulating' surface.
Richard Fenwick, head of highways, asset and local management services for Lincolnshire County Council, said Tetney Lock Road is inspected every three months, and the last inspection before the crash was completed in October 2023, in which there were 'no recorded safety defects'.
Mr Fenwick added that an inspection four days after the incident also found no safety defects, but there are warning signs for an uneven road surface and 'patching' work was carried out in March of this year.
He added that he believed the national speed limit was 'appropriate' for the road.
Speaking on her decision to issue a prevention of future deaths report, the coroner said: 'It would be helpful if when there is a road traffic collision such as this, that the report from the police goes to the highways department rather than sits for a period of time before it is annually reviewed. That is something I am going to put into my regulation 28 report.'
In a statement from the father and son's family they said they were 'two beautiful people' who were 'full of life'.
The statement, read aloud by a member of coroner's court staff, said: 'David was the most selfless person to grace the earth, his kindness was unheard of. He embraced his role as a father figure with unmatched warmth.
'Cameron's personality lit up the darkest of rooms. Cameron was a gentle giant. When you were with Cameron you always knew he was there.'
They described Cameron, who played for Grimsby Town Football Club, as a 'powerhouse' on the football field.
In a tribute after his death, Grimsby Town FC said: 'Cameron Walsh was an integral part of the GTFC academy. His passion for the game, coupled with his undeniable talent, made him a much-loved figure among teammates, coaches, and the entire Grimsby Town family.'
The coroner said to the family members in court: 'I appreciate as a family this has been a very difficult time for you and you have my sympathies.'