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Overtaking dad killed in A61 crash 'carnage'
A DAD-of-three died in a head-on crash described as "complete carnage" after overtaking a pal's car at a Sheffield accident blackspot, an inquest heard.
Anthony Scullion, aged 32, was one-and-a-half times the drink-driving limit when he died - and his friend Mark Moorwood was arrested on suspicion that the pair had been racing, which he denied.
Mr Scullion had visited The Red Lion pub in Grenoside with Mr Moorwood before returning home along the A61 Penistone Road, where the collision happened on a left-hand bend.
Sheffield Coroners' Court heard Mr Scullion was overtaking Mr Moorwood's vehicle when he ploughed into the car of a woman driving home from the shops. Witnesses described hearing a loud bang as the two vehicles collided.
Mr Moorwood, a car mechanic, said he and Mr Scullion had enjoyed drinks at the Red Lion, before returning home in their own cars.
"I did offer him a lift, but he refused," he said. "Tony set off first, and I followed him onto the A61. I saw that he had stopped at the Norfolk Arms pub to light a cigarette but I just carried on.
"I drove along and probably just after half way a set of headlights came from behind me, they overtook me and went into the middle of the road around the corner. After that I don't remember, it's all a blur."
Sheffield coroner Christopher Dorries raised doubts over Mr Moorwood's account, adding: "You would have had to drive past the complete carnage of a high speed traffic collision with bits of car spread everywhere."
In a police interview following his arrest, Mr Moorwood denied racing his friend, and said Mr Scullion had driven into a field weeks before his death. "I was expecting to find him in a field, he'd done that a couple of weeks ago and the bottom of his car was covered in grass. He drove in front of me as we were leaving the car park, but he was just messing about.
"He'd had a lot to drink, and he was driving erratically. I've heard some rumours that I was racing him but that's rubbish. His speed was unbelievable."
Sarah Marshall, who was driving the silver Vauxhall Astra hit by Mr Scullion's blue Ford Mondeo, told the inquest she was returning home with her boyfriend after shopping for food in Hillsborough.
"We were going at 40mph, we were driving normally, and I saw these headlights directly ahead of me, and that was it. I didn't have any time to brake."
Miss Marshall said she now has difficulty walking after her legs were injured in the crash, and is currently out of work.
Officers from South Yorkshire Police's collision investigation branch examined both vehicles, and confirmed Miss Marshall was driving at 40mph - but that Mr Scullion's speed would have been over 80mph.
Mr Scullion, a bakery worker, lived with his partner Lisa Fitzgibbons and their three children on Station Road, Chapeltown.
PC John Glossop, of the collision investigation branch, said he did not believe the bend caused the accident - despite it being the site of another fatal crash in December 2009.
"In this particular case I believe it could have been any bend," he said.
Pathologist Dr Julian Burton recorded the cause of death as multiple injuries of the chest and abdomen, and noted that Mr Scullion's blood alcohol level was 118 microgrammes, with the legal limit set at 80.
Mr Dorries, recording a narrative verdict, said: "This collision occurred because of an overtaking manoeuvre Mr Scullion would not have made had he pondered over it in a quiet moment.
"He had more than the prescribed limit of alcohol on board, but he wasn't greatly drunk. Plainly he was also going at a speed but not a speed where he was out of control on the bend."
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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