Grieving family left with no answers to horror car crash
CORONER SAYS ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ TO DETERMINE IF MISSING MAN HAD DELIBERATELY DRIVEN INTO TREE
ACHILDREN’S entertainer died when he was thrown from his convertible car after it veered off the road and smashed into a tree.
Stephen John Sharples, from Caergwrle, was reported missing three days before his body was found off the A498 in Gwynedd.
His silver Mazda had struck a tree before rolling down a hill.
The 56-year-old was found outside his car. He had not been wearing a seatbelt.
Drug tests found he had just 12mg less than the fatal limit of paracetamol in his system.
When the vehicle was searched, a note to his family was found in the boot, although the contents of this note have not been disclosed.
Coroner Dewi Pritchard delivered an open verdict at the Caernarfon inquest on Tuesday, as he could not be certain Mr Sharples intended to end his life.
Mr Jones said: “There were no mechanical issues with the car Mr Sharples was driving and there’s no real explication for why the car left the road when it did.
“There is a viable argument that the car was deliberately driven over the edge, but it is impossible to say for certain.”
The vehicle had left the road between the A4086 turnoff for Penygwryd and Nant Gwynant.
Mr Sharples’ injuries included a fracture to his spine at the base of his skull.
He had been reported missing on February 28, and his body was found on March 3.
Mr Pritchard said “it would have been a sudden death”, adding: “His car fell a considerable distance once it left the road, came into contact with a tree and then continued to roll and tumble down the hill before coming to a stop upside down.
“As there were no eyewitnesses and due to the fact that Mr Sharples had been missing for a few days prior, it is impossible to say when exactly the incident occurred.
“There is not enough evidence to say he intended to end his life when the car left the road. It could be that he swerved to avoid something.
“It is not something I enjoy doing as it does not give the family the answers they need, but the insufficient evidence means I must deliver an open verdict as I simply do not know whether it was deliberate and I simply cannot rely on guesswork.”