Inquest told music teacher killed in motorway collision had history of mental health problems
AMAN who died after driving the wrong way down the M4 in middle of the night with no lights on was going through “a mental health crisis”, an inquest has heard.
Lewis John Hunter Gilmour, 37, drove his Mazda 3 down the slip road at Junction 47 at Penllergaer into the path of an oncoming Vauxhall Astra.
An inquest into his death, held at Swansea Coroner’s Court yesterday, was told that Mr Gilmour was not wearing a seatbelt and was driving at about 80mph at the time of crash. He died at the scene.
Christopher Gordon, the Astra driver, suffered serious injuries including a fractured right leg and eye socket.
The force of the collision on July 2 left a field of debris extending 140m down the dual carriageway and caused the engine of the Mazda to be thrown completely out of the car.
Senior coroner Colin Phillips was told Mr Gilmour, a music teacher from Glasgow, had a history of mental health issues and was receiving treatment from NHS Scotland at the time of his death.
The coroner said a month prior to his death, Mr Gilmour had attempted suicide by electrocuting himself.
In the week before his death, Mr Gilmour had driven from Glasgow to Penzance in Cornwall.
The hearing was told that on June 29, he contacted a former girlfriend, Jane Ballantyne, saying he was in Bognor and wanted to meet up for dinner. The couple had been in a long-term relationship, but separated in January, partly due to Mr Gilmour’s bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Miss Ballantyne was in south Wales at the time and agreed to meet in the Bristol area on the evening of Sunday, July 1. She recalled telling Mr Gilmour “I don’t want you dying in a car accident”.
Mr Gilmour never arrived and when Miss Ballantyne phoned him to see where he was, he said he was lost and was crossing the M48 Severn Bridge, heading into Wales. He stopped on the hard shoulder and told Miss Ballantyne he “could not cope and couldn’t do anything right”.
A frantic exchange of texts and calls over the next few hours saw Mr Gilmour become more distressed. Miss Ballantyne pleaded with him to stop driving and pull over and rest.
At 12.30am, he texted: “I just want it to end.”
At this time, Mr Gilmour had reached Junction 47, just north of Swansea, where he turned down the slip road on to the M4 in the wrong direction.
Mr Gilmour was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. A post-mortem examination confirmed he had not been drinking or taken any drugs. He died from multiple injuries.
Mr Phillips adjourned the inquest to await the outcome of a significant clinical incident review by NHS Scotland to establish if Mr Gilmour had received adequate care. It is expected this could take up to three months.
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