12th, 13th, 15th October. Held at Shrewsbury Town FC, this was an inquest into the death of Stefan Boswell who died, following a police pursuit, when he crashed his Vauxhall Corsa at the Emstrey roundabout in the early hours of 6th June 2014. Contrary to police training, PC Gallagher in the pursuing police vehicle had continued the pursuit when Stefan Boswell drove down the wrong side of the dual carriageway from the Dobbies roundabout towards the Emstrey roundabout.
After three days of the hearing the jury took a couple of hours to unanimously conclude that this was a road traffic accident and that, on the balance of probability, the actions of PC Gallagher did not contribute to the death of Stefan Boswell. The conclusions were not what the family of Stefan Boswell, who were present throughout the hearing, had hoped for or expected but they had praise for the way the Coroner John Ellery had conducted proceedings and recognised that the facts of the case had been fully aired. The family also had praise for the family liaison officers who had been assigned to them. I am greatly indebted to the Coroner for making me feel so welcome at this fascinating inquest into a tragic event.