Roads chief to give evidence at inquest into death of Sheffield grandmother killed on smart motorway

National Highways Chief Executive Nick Harris will be one of two witnesses from National Highways giving evidence at the inquest into the death of 62-year-old Nargis Begum, who died on a stretch of the M1 without a hard shoulder in South Yorkshire in September 2018.

At a pre-inquest review held at Doncaster Coroners’ Court on Monday, April 4, Prashant Popat QC, for National Highways, told senior coroner Nicola Mundy: “National Highways is acutely conscious that it needs to make clear to you how seriously it is taking this inquest.”

Mr Popat said that tendering Mr Harris to answer questions about general matters including safety and information available to drivers would ‘demonstrates that seriousness’.

The barrister told the coroner it would also help the inquest that the CEO was director of operations for Highways England, as the company was called before September 2021, at the time of the fatal crash.

MORE: ‘It has taken its toll’: Sheffield family's ongoing grief over mum killed in M1 smash

Mr Popet said Mr Harris was best placed in National Highways to help the coroner with decisions she may have to make about whether to send prevention of future deaths reports to the Government or other organisations.

Last year, Ms Mundy asked South Yorkshire Police to consider whether Highways England should face corporate manslaughter charges over Mrs Begum's death.

In February, the force said the now renamed company will not be charged in relation to this incident nor another on the M1 in South Yorkshire involving the deaths of Jason Mercer, 44, and Alexandru Murgeanu, 22, near Sheffield in June 2019.

It said it concluded, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, that the organisation did not owe road users a ‘relevant duty of care’ under the terms set out in the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007.

The deaths of Mrs Begum, Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu on the M1 in South Yorkshire have been highlighted by campaigners fighting for the Government to reverse policy on smart motorways and reinstate the hard shoulder.

A coroner who examined the deaths of Mr Mercer and Mr Murgeanu concluded that smart motorways ‘present an ongoing risk of future deaths’.

Sheffield coroner David Urpeth recorded a conclusion of unlawful killing at their inquests and said: “I find, as a finding of fact, it is clear a lack of hard shoulder contributed to this tragedy.”

Previous hearings have heard how Mrs Begum, from Sheffield, was the passenger in a Nissan Qashqai car, driven by her husband, Mohammed Bashir, 67, which broke down near Woodhall Services.

The mother-of-five and grandmother-of-nine had exited the car and was waiting for help when another vehicle collided with the Nissan, causing it to plough into her leading to her suffering fatal injuries.

Ms Mundy said the full inquest hearing will take place at Doncaster Coroner's Court over four days beginning on September 6.