Callow Hill: What witnesses saw on day of fatal crash
Four-year-old Keegan Fettis, his mother Gemma Hobbins, aged 32, and her friend Cody Smith, aged 28, were all killed in the tragic crash on the A456 at Callow Hill, near Bewdley, in May. Ms Hobbins, who was a carer, was driving her Ford Focus which crashed into an Audi A7 near the Duke William pub. Her son Keegan was in the back seat, and Ms Smith was the front seat passenger.
During an inquest[1] held at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court on Wednesday (November 22), it was heard the Ford Focus travelled with a “convoy” from Kidderminster to Clee Hill and was heading back to the town when the incident happened. Witness statements were read out by coroner David Reid from those also driving vehicles in the convoy, with Daniel Buckley describing the Ford Focus as being driven “erratically” on the evening. Gemma Hobbins, Keegan Fettis, and Cody Smith (Image: West Mercia Police)
A statement by the driver of the Audi, which was read out by the coroner, said the driver was “struggling to keep control of the car.” In another witness statement read out by Mr Reid, Mia Bradbury, who provided police with dashcam footage said: “The car was engulfed in flames. “I saw a huge wall of flames that were easily as tall as the houses on the side of the road”.
PC Simon Carpenter, a collision investigator who gave evidence at the inquest, said the speedometer of the Ford Focus was fixed at 50mph, but said this “can’t be relied upon.” Mr Reid said that whilst it was not possible to say the speed of the car exactly, he was satisfied that it was “substantial in excess of the speed limit for that road” on the balance of probability. Mr Reid told the inquest: “They would have died almost immediately after the collision occurred”.
He concluded: “Gemma Hobbins was the driver of a car which lost control while travelling at excessive speed and collided with another car travelling in the opposite direction.”
He said that all three of the victims, who were from Stourport, died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.