DISPUTE OVER SIGNIFICANCE OF BROKEN BRACKET

Vital questions about the cause of the crash surround the issue of whether a broken suspension bracket could have caused Mr Moxey to lose control of the car.

Original police vehicle examiner Kevin Barrett told the inquest he had carried out his inspection on November 3, 2010, but he did not record anything about a broken bracket on the Peugeot 106.

Assistant coroner Christopher Morris called metallurgy expert Simon Clarke and road traffic investigator George Mighall, who examined the car on September 29, 2011.

Both agreed that the snapped suspension had probably been present before the accident, and Mr Mighall stated it could have been the main reason why Mr Moxey had lost control.

PC Terrence Collins, the police investigator on the night, disputed the experts’ belief that the broken suspension had caused loss of control.

He had completed track tests on a replica Peugeot 106, with the same snapped suspension bracket.

He added: “Everything we have heard today about the broken suspension in my opinion makes no difference.

“I tested the vehicle to the point of destruction. I still couldn’t make the vehicle lose control when negotiating a right hand bend.”

In summing up, Mr Morris said: “This is a key issue. I think on balance the defect occurred in advance. But there is no evidence which persuades me as to whether the suspension failure occurred either in the moments before the collision or at an earlier point.

“I prefer PC Collins’ particular view. I’m not convinced the suspension materially contributed to this tragic collision.”

He recorded a conclusion of a death in a road traffic collision causing catastrophic brain injury. He added: “There is nothing more tragic than the death of somebody as young as Tony.”