Open verdict on crash death of retired police chief (From Western Telegraph)

Open verdict on A477 crash death of retired police chief

6:40pm Sunday 9th September 2012 in News

AN OPEN verdict has been recorded in the death of a Cosheston man who died in a car crash on the A477 near Pembroke Dock in January.

Harold Glyn Rowlands, aged 82, died at the scene of the crash after his Ford Ka collided with a 26-tonne refuse lorry owned by Pembrokeshire County Council just after 10am on January 24th.

The inquest in Milford Haven heard that Mr Rowlands, a retired police superintendent and father of two, had been ill in the week before his death and had complained of dizzy spells.

He also had hearing problems and had been taking sleeping tablets.

Mr Rowlands’s wife, retired teacher Mary Elspeth Rowlands, told the inquest her husband “was taking an awful lot of medication”.

Witness accounts given by the three-man crew in the refuse lorry suggested Mr Rowlands was slumped over the wheel when his car veered onto the opposite side of the road.

The refuse lorry was travelling away from Pembroke Dock towards Bangeston Hall and Mr Rowlands was travelling in the opposite direction.

The inquest heard the driver of the lorry braked hard and tried to steer away, but could not avoid Mr Rowlands’ vehicle.

In a statement, Mr Rowlands’ GP said he had been taking sleeping tablets for a long time, but had agreed to a drop in medication at his last consultation.

The postmortem found the cause of death to be multiple injuries.

Pembrokeshire coroner Mark Layton recorded an open verdict and noted witness accounts which suggested Mr Rowlands had been slumped over at the time of the crash, but said it was not possible to determine the cause of death due to insufficient evidence.