Inquest: Woman died from head injury in Stonehenge crash
Jacqueline Medlock, known to family and friends as Jacky, died aged 65 on January 23, 2024, in a head-on car crash on the A303[1]. An inquest into her death was held at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court in Salisbury on Friday, January 9, heard by area coroner Ian Singleton. Her husband, David Medlock, described Mrs Medlock as a family-oriented woman.
He said: "Jacky completely ran the family life and home as a committee of one, and when we decided to keep sheep, she added the skills of shepherd to those of heating engineer, plumber, administrator, gardener, house designer and builder. "Family has always been central to Jacky's existence. Her devotion to her granddaughter and her following grandson was total.
Together with her new granddaughter and grandson, born within the last 15 months, they had become the centre of her life. "She lived her life with diligence, grace and love for everyone she was with. My only concern was that she never felt she was doing enough."
The inquest heard that Mrs Medlock was driving her Land Rover Discovery eastbound on the A303 when a large HGV lorry heading in the other direction suddenly swerved straight into the path of her car, causing a major crash. She was in good health at the time, and the inquest heard she was a really careful and capable driver who had held her licence for more than 40 years. 
The inquest heard that Mrs Medlock, a retired company director from Bath, had been hit after a HGV suffered a blowout of the front driver's side tyre, causing it to swerve across the road and hit her Land Rover. The driver of the HGV, Eric Collimore, had plenty of experience driving the vehicles. He was driving along the A303 when he heard a bang and felt the lorry swerve.
Police confirmed he could not have avoided the collision. A statement was read to the inquest from Sam Diggins, a mechanic at J&R Tyres Ltd. He had been the last person to service the vehicle and fit the tyre that blew.
His statement read: "I have a lot of experience in the tyre fitting industry. It was a well-maintained HGV that we regularly worked on. "I would have refused to refit the tyre if I thought it was in a dangerous condition.
I did all of my usual safety checks and fitted the trye as I normally do. I then checked the vehicle over and found no cause for concern." In conclusion, area coroner Ian Singleton stated: "The evidence shows that the incident happened on January 23, 2024, as an HGV lorry suffered a catastrophic tyre blowout when travelling eastbound on the A303 past Stonehenge.
"The vehicle suffered sudden, violent out-of-control movement and collided with the oncoming Land Rover.
"Neither driver could take any action to avoid any impact, and Jacky was thrown from the vehicle and was declared dead at the scene with a traumatic head injury."