Couple who died after crash near Appleby ‘could have been distracted’ by police who followed them

An inquest has heard how a couple who died after a crash near Appleby could have been distracted by police who followed them.

Ryan Duffy, 24, and Ellie Marsden, 20, both from Wigan, were found dead inside a van which had crashed off the road close to Kings Meaburn on the morning of 5 September 2021.

The couple had spent the evening in Appleby, checking into a local hotel before spending two hours in the town's Hare & Hounds pub.

A jury was shown CCTV footage that recorded Ryan and Ellie's return to their van after midnight and the moment they drove away.

In this recording, a Cumbria Police vehicle begins to follow the van from Appleby town centre.

A separate CCTV recording taken from a service station close to the hamlet of Burrells shows the police vehicle continuing to follow the van to an area close to the site where the van was later found to have crashed.

Today, Cumbria Police's collisions investigator Steven Wakefield told the court that he estimated the van to be travelling at around 40mph when it left the road and collided with a tree.

He added that this is well below the national speed limit of 60, though it was likely close to the maximum speed required to successfully make the bend in the road.

He added that there is evidence of impairment because the driver was intoxicated with drugs and alcohol.

PS Wakefield said that the most likely cause of the crash was late steering that was inappropriate to the speed of the van due to distraction or intoxication.

PC Stevensen told a lawyer for Ryan Duffy's family that an awareness of him following them could have been a significant distraction.

The inquest heard how the officer had stopped following the van 170 yards from where the vehicle crashed.

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