Former high sheriff drowned after floods pulled her from husband
AN inquest has heard how a former Derbyshire High Sheriff drowned when floodwater swept her away from her husband.
Businesswoman Annie Hall died after being caught by floodwaters at Ashford-in-the Water on November 8, 2019. Her husband was left trapped for hours overnight after their car was stranded in rising waters.
The inquest at Chesterfield Coroners’ Court heard that the 69-yearold had been driving the pair back from Derby on the night of November 7. The route back to their home in Ashford-in-the-water was closed, so they took a different way home but became stranded in Church Road, Darley Dale, where the Derwent had burst its banks.
The inquest heard evidence from her husband, Michael Hall, who said they had decided to continue their journey on foot after water started to enter the vehicle.
Thinking they could walk through the floodwater, they left the car. However, they quickly tired, with Mrs Hall losing her footing a number of times, before being swept under a fence by the water shortly after midnight.
Mr Hall was rescued by paramedics several hours later, while Mrs Hall’s body was recovered the next morning, 450 metres from where she entered the water. Peter Nieto, area coroner for Derby and Derbyshire, said concerns had been raised about the role of the county council and emergency services following the incident. He said water levels had been extremely high after “a month’s worth of rain fell” in 24 hours and this had caused the closure of their normal route home on the A6. Addressing concerns from Mr Hall, who said there had been no signs warning drivers that Church Road was flooded on the night of the incident, Mr Nieto confirmed this was the case. “The evidence is there was no road closure sign that could be seen by them [Mr and Mrs Hall] at the time they turned into it [Church Road],” Mr Nieto said.
Police and county council officers had rejected suggestions they were “struggling to cope” on the night of
Annie Hall pictured in 2007 the incident. Mr Nieto said: “Evidence was given by a constable that police staffing in the Matlock station was minimal and there were only four officers to cover up to the north of the county.”
He said Road Traffic Police were also involved. “Both the county council and police must have been under significant pressure,” he said.
“Given that signs had been placed at other relevant junctions, I do not see there was any pressure or circumstances that explain why another sign was not at Church Road.
He said this was likely to have “lowered the guard” of Mrs Hall as she was driving through the area.
However, he added that given the conditions on the roads, “objectively there should have been awareness” that there might be flooding.
He said Mrs Hall had “panicked” and sped up, taking vehicle further into the water.
Then, when water started to come through the doors, the pair had decided to leave on foot, but quickly became fatigued.
“They both had phones but did not call for assistance,” he said.
“They got to a telephone pole and were becoming tired. She [Mrs Hall] fell and was taken away under the fence by the floodwater. He [Mr Hall] did try to hold her back but was unable due to the force of the water.”
Mr Hall was rescued when a passing motorist who had also got caught in the floodwater.
This was at 5.40am after being stranded in the water for more than three hours.
He told emergency services about his wife, and a search began.
Mrs Hall’s body was found by a police helicopter just after 7am the same day.
Mr Nieto ruled her medical cause of death was drowning and expressed his deep sympathies to Mr Hall.