A coroner has begun summing up evidence to jurors sitting at an inquest into the deaths of a young couple found in a crashed van which hit a tree after leaving a rural Eden Valley road.
Ryan Duffy, 24, and Ellie Marsden, 20, travelled from their homes in the Greater Manchester area and booked into Appleby Castle at around 10pm on September 4, 2021.
They headed into Appleby town centre and spent time in a pub before leaving at around 12,30am.
CCTV captured a white Citroen Berlingo van leaving a parking space and driving on to the main Boroughgate road.
It was followed by a police constable on mobile patrol in a marked Ford Transit, who decided to stop the van after it went the wrong way along a one-way street.
That PC repeatedly drove above speed limits in Appleby and then on rural roads as he attempted to follow.
A standard response driver, he was trained to stop vehicles but not to pursue them, and did not activate emergency blue lights or sirens during a four-minute journey.
He followed the van on to a narrow road known as Long Rigg, several miles from the village of Kings Meaburn. But, having still not caught up, logged the registration number or make of vehicle, he opted to stop, turn around and return to Appleby.
Giving evidence, the officer repeatedly denied suggestions that he was involved in a pursuit of the van.
The PC said he was not certain whether the van driver was aware of his presence. He suggested his presence might have been a distraction for the van driver.
The location at which the constable stopped and turned around, an inquest in Carlisle has heard, was 173 metres from where the crashed Berlingo was later found by a married couple, at around 7.30am, off the road having collided with a tree. They raised the alarm. It was earlier seen by a passing farm worker, at 5.20am.
Ryan, in the driver’s seat, and Ellie were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. Neither were wearing seatbelts.
A senior police forensic examiner concluded the van was travelling at around 40mph — under the national speed limit for that stretch of road — at the time of the crash.
Steering marks on the road suggested the driver may have misjudged a bend on which the collision occurred, failing to properly negotiate it due either to being impaired in some way, or distracted — or both.
Toxicology tests showed the amount of alcohol in Ryan’s bloodstream was between two and three times the legal driving limit. He and Ellie had taken both cocaine and ketamine. Small amounts of cocaine and cannabis were found inside the van.
Ryan’s head injury was unsurvivable, the inquest heard. Ellie’s cause of death was a ruptured spleen. A medical expert concluded she would have died from her injuries within 30 minutes. Immediate transfer to a well-equipped hospital would have been required for her to survive.
This morning, assistant coroner Joseph Hart directed jurors not to make conclusions about any possible delay in the discovery of Ryan and Ellie. “It would not be safe. It would be speculation,” said Mr Hart.
Giving legal directions, the coroner said to jurors of the inquest proceedings: “It is not a trial. It is an inquest into death — a fact-finding enquiry to find out how and in what circumstances Ellie and Ryan died.”
The inquest was not concerned with attributing blame and the coroner said: “It is a way of establishing facts.” This was based on the balance of probabilities.
Mr Hart told jurors they must not speculate or guess when trying to reach conclusions and answer four key questions: who the deceased were; when, where and how they died.
“Your duty is to find the facts and a conclusion from the evidence and only from the evidence, said Mr Hart, who reminded jurors to put aside sympathy and any disapproval they might have of actions by an individual or organisation.
“Adopt a cool, clinical and, above all, independent approach,” said the coroner.
As he summed up evidence, Mr Hart reminded jurors of moving tributes they had heard from the mothers of Ryan and Ellie at the start of proceedings last Monday.
“He was fearless and would have a go at anything,” said Karen Duffy, mother of United Utilities leakage engineer, of Ashton-in-Makerfield. “I do know that the world is a poorer place for Ryan and Ellie not being in it. Two beautiful souls taken too soon.”
Kelly Kennedy, mum of care assistant Ellie, of Golborne, said: “She just wanted to make a difference, to make everyone happy. Every bone in her body was kind, loving, caring. She just wanted to make the world a better place. Equally the world was a better place with Ellie in it.”
Mr Hart said to it was important for hear about the lives of Ryan and Ellie, adding: “They are at the heart of the fact-finding exercises that you carry out.”
The hearing continues.
