12 hours Ago
Jean Kitchen died aged 89 on June 24, 2024 after a three-vehicle crash shortly before 4pm on the A5104 at Bryn Eglwys the previous day. An inquest into her death, held at County Hall, Ruthin today (March 12), found that Mrs Kitchen had, for an “unknown” reason, crossed into the opposite lane of the road prior to the crash. The inquest heard that an Oldham-born retired nurse, was driving a black Peugeot 107 at about 3.
40pm on the A5104 on June 23, in the direction of Llandegla. She was driving behind Harri Williams, who had come to a stop as he waited to turn right into a farmer’s field, when Mrs Kitchen made contact with his vehicle, and with Daniel Hughes’ black Jaguar, which he was driving in the opposite direction. Mrs Kitchen, who was due to turn 90 in July, was taken to the Royal Stoke University Hospital by air ambulance in a life-threatening condition, and was pronounced deceased there on June 24 at 1.
18pm. Mr Williams, driving a silver Peugeot 206, said the weather was sunny and the road was dry at the time of the crash. He said Mrs Kitchen did not appear to attempt to slow down as she approached his vehicle, and “only at the last moment” steered right to avoid it, causing her to hit Mr Hughes’ car instead.
Mr Hughes said he did not see Mrs Kitchen’s car before she hit his own vehicle, so said there was “nothing I could have done” to avoid the crash as there was “no time to react”. This was echoed by Simon Davies, a front-seat passenger in Mr Hughes’ car at the time. No illicit drugs or alcohol were in Mrs Kitchen’s system at the time of the crash, while Mr Hughes and Mr Williams both provided negative drug swipes at the scene.
Kyle Jones, a forensic collision investigator with North Wales Police, said that Mrs Kitchen’s “first point of possible perception” was 100 metres from the area of impact. Mr Jones said there was “sufficient distance and time” for her to bring her vehicle to a stop, even when allowing for longer reaction times. Mrs Kitchen’s vehicle was forensically examined, but no defects were found that could have been considered contributory to the crash.
Consequently, Mr Jones said, human error on Mrs Kitchen’s part was “unfortunately” the only contributory factor. There was evidence she had tried to take evasive action, but this caused her car to rotate clockwise and hit Mr Williams’ Peugeot. The reason Mrs Kitchen failed to stop in her own lane, Mr Jones said, remains “unknown”.
John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales (East and Central), recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision, and a medical cause of death as polytrauma due to road traffic collision. Mr Gittins told Mrs Kitchen’s relatives who attended today’s inquest that the crash was due to a “momentary misjudgement on her part, essentially”. He added to them: “It’s awful to lose a family member in any circumstances, but these obviously make it so much more difficult, particularly when this is a lady who you described to me as being so fit and well for her age.
” Following her death, Mrs Kitchen’s family described her as “the most amazing mum, grandma, great grandma, aunt and friend that anyone could ask for”..
