Inquest opened after Ellesmere Port man struck by car on A55

An inquest has been opened into the death of Stephen Michael Phillips, who died 11 days after being involved in a crash on the A55. At the inquest opening on Wednesday, December 13, it was heard that Mr Phillips was “struck” by a vehicle near junction 40 on the westbound carriageway on November 11. Police at the time had said the collision had involved a grey Ford car and a 42-year-old man.

Mr Phillips, of Joseph Groome Towers in Ellesmere Port, passed away on November 22 at the Walton Centre, aged 42 years old. A GoFundMe page has since been set up by his partner, Donna Smyth, in a bid to give Mr Phillips – aka ‘Wonchop’ – the best send-off possible. She wrote: “As you can imagine we are all absolutely devastated, myself and Ste’s family were with him every hour of every day, so he was never alone.

“We want to be able to give Ste the send-off that he deserves and we want to make his funeral a day that he will be proud of.” A total of GBP2,165 has been raised. Senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish formally opened an inquest into Mr Phillips’ death at Cheshire Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.

A case review will take place on February 11 ahead of the full inquest on May 1.