[A] CORONER has ruled that the driving of a mum-of two who died in a horror head-on crash was “impaired” due to drugs she had taken “many hours before”.
Lauren Filer, a 27-year-old sales assistant from Annan, was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-vehicle crash just before 2pm on February 19 last year. Witnesses saw her Peugeot 208 cross into the opposite lane of the A689 near Carlisle, and into the path of a Peugeot 207 driven by a man from Carlisle who had no time to react. The man, his wife and their two young children were all injured.
An inquest heard that Miss Filer had been arrested on suspicion of drug-driving at 11-30pm in Gateshead the previous night. She had become “completely lost” having earlier attended a North Shields water park.
A blood test showed she had taken both ecstasy and diazepam. She was held in custody overnight but deemed fit for release and safe to drive by an experience officer at 12-30pm.
However, motorists saw her driving “erratically”, alone, along the A69 and A689 during her journey home. A police collision investigator concluded that Miss Filer was suffering from a “significant cognitive impairment” at the time of the fatal crash.
Assistant Cumbria coroner Simon Ward spoke of a “tragic and sad and harrowing case”. He concluded that her “driving was impaired due to the presence of a residue of drug that she had taken many hours before”.
In a statement read to the inquest, Miss Filer’s mother, Senga Garthwaite said: “She was my only child. I don’t think I ever will be able to comprehend or come to terms with the loss.”
