Latest news with #JoanneAndrews
The Sun
20-05-2025
- The Sun
OAP, 91, tragically drowns after driving into a canal as council warned over road safety
AN OAP has died after drowning in a canal as a coroner issues an urgent warning to council officials. Doreen Turner, 91, tragically lost her life after driving her car into the body of water in Chichester, West Sussex. 3 3 The horror crash happened on November 1 last year and sparked a police investigation. A coroner has now ruled West Sussex County Council must install more safety measures along the road. A probe found there was no forensic evidence of any mechanical issues in Doreen's car. Officers also concluded the 91-year-old had suffered no impairments that would affect her driving. However the kerb at the end of the road was found to measure shorter than the standard height requirement. A council spokesperson said: "We are currently reviewing this site in consultation with Sussex Police and will be responding to the coroner accordingly." Coroner Joanne Andrews could not determine the exact reason why Doreen's car left the road. But she warned the council "action should be taken". "In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action," she said. This incident marks the second fatal crash in the same area within the past five years. The coroner said the inquest heard there were "no devices present to prevent a vehicle which passes over the kerbstones from entering the canal". Beyond the kerb there is a five-foot section of grass before the canal starts. West Sussex County Council has until June 25 to respond officially to the coroner's concerns. Earlier this month we reported the body of an unidentified woman in her 50s was pulled from a canal. Cops had rushed to the Lee Navigation in Homerton, east London, at around 11.40am, following reports of a body in the canal. No arrests have yet been made in connection with her death. Elsewhere, an inquest heard how a two-year-old boy tragically drowned in a canal just as his family were in the process of moving house due to fears of living so close to the water. Jayce Olutola was found by a police officer after he went missing from his home in Ettingshall, Wolverhampton, on August 11 last year. And, a teenage boy who tragically died after jumping into a canal was pictured for the first time this month. Delvin Musakwa, 13, was pulled from the water after jumping into the canal in Exeter, Devon, on May 5. Police said the death is not being treated as suspicious, and added they will prepare a file for the coroner. 3
BBC News
20-05-2025
- BBC News
Council warned after woman drowns in Chichester canal
A coroner has told a county council it must address its lack of road safety measures after a 91-year-old woman drowned after driving into a Turner died on 1 November after driving her car into the canal in was no evidence of mechanical failure or impairment of the driver, but the kerb at the end of the road, managed by West Sussex County Council, was found to be less than the standard height, an inquest council said: "We are currently reviewing this site in consultation with Sussex Police and will be responding to the coroner accordingly." It was not clear why the car ended up in the canal, area coroner Joanne Andrews said."In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action," she added. Ms Turner reached the canal via South Bank, a residential cul-de-sac where another driver had gone into the water within the last five coroner said the inquest heard there were "no devices present to prevent a vehicle which passes over the kerbstones from entering the canal".Besides the kerb, there was a five-foot (1.5m) long stretch of grass between the road and the canal. Additional reporting by PA Media.
The Independent
19-05-2025
- The Independent
County council warned over lack of road safety after woman, 91, drove into canal
A coroner has told a county council it must address its lack of road safety features, after an elderly women drowned by driving into a canal. Doreen Turner, 91, died on the evening of November 1 last year, after her car went into the canal in Chichester, west Sussex, when there was no evidence of mechanical failure in the vehicle or impairment of the driver. She reached the canal via South Bank, a residential cul-de-sac where another driver had previously entered the waterway in the same place in the last five years. An inquest into her death heard that the kerbing at the end of the road, which is managed by West Sussex County Council, was less than the standard height. Joanne Andrews, area coroner for West Sussex, said the inquest also heard there were 'no devices present to prevent a vehicle which passes over the kerbstones from entering the canal'. Besides the kerbing, there was only a five-foot long grass section at the end of the road between the road and the canal. It is not clear why the car ended up in the canal, Ms Andrews said. The coroner added: 'In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action.' The inquest, which concluded last month, found Ms Turner died as a result of drowning having entered the water. Copies of the coroner's prevention of future deaths report were sent to West Sussex County Council, Ms Turner's family and the chief coroner for England and Wales.
