'Family man' run over by milk tanker was lying in the road, inquest hears

Carl Welburn was lying in the road when was struck by the heavy goods vehicle in Harmby Road, Leyburn, in the early hours of October 26 last year.

An inquest into the 47-year-old’s death heard he had been drinking heavily and may have fallen into the road.

Nickie Ross said her fiance was a hard-working “family man” and they loved listening to music and watching films together.

She also told the inquest she has lost her “soul mate and best friend“.

“He was so popular, when he walked into a room people gravitated to him. His funeral was so packed there was not enough room in the church for everyone,” she said.

“Leyburn is not the same place without him. I’m not the same person without him.”

The inquest heard Mr Welburn had returned home on the night of October 25, after drinking at The King’s Head with his fiance and his daughter.

But the father-of-two then left home for an unknown reason and CCTV footage shows that he was swaying and falling over in the road.

The inquest heard the collision occurred shortly after midnight and Mr Welburn was lying in a section of the road that was dark, because a nearby street light was broken.

The driver Nigel Lockwood, who was collecting milk from nearby farms, said he saw something “that looked like a man” in the road after he drove round a bend, but “there was not enough time to avoid hitting him”.

He said he “desperately hoped that it might have been something else in the road” and “went into shock”.

After realising what had happened, he phoned the emergency services and was interviewed by police officers. Mr Welburn was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic shortly after 1am.

Mr Lockwood added: “I'm truly devastated by what happened and my thoughts go out to the family. I struggled to cope emotionally and have had to engage in counselling.”

An investigation by North Yorkshire Police concluded the driver was not at fault, as he was travelling within the 30mph speed limit on the poorly lit road and would not have had enough time to react.

Police also found there was nothing to suggest Mr Welburn had been assaulted or pushed into the road before the fatal collision.

A post mortem examination found he was heavily intoxicated, as he was almost four times over the legal drink drive limit, and he had epilepsy but there is no evidence to suggest he had a fit before the collision.

Area Coroner Catherine Cundy said: “I accept on the balance of probabilities – it is more likely than not – that Carl has laid in the road that night as a result of the level of alcohol in his system and the impact it had on him.”

She said then recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.