Inquest held into tragic death of Aspatria man

Richard Berwick, 75, of Aspatria, was spotted lying on his back by Dryden Ward, who was driving down the B5301 from Aspatria towards West Newton on July 28, 2023. In a statement read to Cockermouth Coroner's Court, Mr Ward reported seeing a man who appeared to be sleeping on the side of the road, and stopped 'to make sure he was ok'. Mr Ward called 999, while his colleague attempted to perform chest compressions on Mr Berwick, before it became obvious that he was deceased.

He reported paramedics arriving within 15 minutes. PC Holly Willis of Cumbria Police was the first officer on the scene, after paramedics had diagnosed Mr Berwick's death, and her statement to the court reported 'no obvious injuries or marks consistent with a vehicle strike'. Enquiries by the coroner's office resulted in a report received from Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, detailing Mr Berwick's history with mental health services.

It described how Mr Berwick, previously a successful joiner, had been forced to retire in 2007 due to an industrial accident suffered after he fell off scaffolding. The report said it had 'a significant aspect on all aspects of his life', leading to low self-esteem and 'little social contact with others'. He was prescribed anti-depressant medication when he reported 'major depression' in January 2008.

His GP had referred him again to mental health and memory services in 2019 due to a 'decline in cognitive function over a ten-year period'. Mental health services reported his consistent failure to engage, finding face-to-face appointments 'anxiety-provoking'. He had also been suffering increasingly from falls in the period prior to his death.

A joint statement submitted to the court by Mr Berwick's daughter, Louise, and his wife of 41 years, Denise, called him a 'committed family man'. They said: "He loved his work. He had two children that he adored.

He always talked about them and how proud he was of them. "Richard enjoyed his cars and enjoyed fixing them up in his early days." His family had reported that he had recently appeared 'shut off, not himself, and seemed low in mood'.

Assistant coroner for Cumbria, Dr Nicholas Shaw, concluded: "A working man, keeps himself busy, all of a sudden, it's stopped. He's not got the option of doing a bit of this and that no other interests, he can't drive, so no more messing around in cars, you can see where it's going - frustration. "We have our social contacts, we have our work contacts, they keep us going.

It all stops, and I can quite see that he's become increasingly isolated.

"It looks as if he'd gone for a walk along the road toward West Newton and had a fall."

Dr Shaw concluded that Mr Berwick died from a fractured C2 vertebrae due to a fall.