Smash at accident blackspot kills two
May 29 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal
A TALENTED rugby player and a taxi driver were killed after the car they were travelling in crashed into a tree at a Northumberland accident blackspot.
Front-seat passenger Andrew Robson, 29, and driver 47-year-old Jasir Uddin Ahmed were both pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, on the A68 road at Beukley Bank, near Hexham, on July 1 last year.
An inquest in Hexham yesterday heard how Mr Robson, of Parkside Place, Bellingham, had been travelling home from a stag night out with friends from Tynedale Rugby Club when the Peugeot 406 taxi left the road at a blind summit.
The stag party had begun at Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge, before heading on to Consett, where Mr Robson and a group of his friends were later picked up by Mr Ahmed, of Mill Lane, Benwell, Newcastle.
The taxi initially stopped in Hexham to drop off Mr Robson’s friends, and he was the only passenger when the accident happened.
By coincidence, Robert Sedgewick, a friend and team-mate of Mr Robson, was among the first to arrive on the scene of the crash, which happened shortly before 3am.
He was being driven back from Newcastle, where part of the original stag party had gone instead of heading to Consett.
Mr Sedgewick, who lives in Humshaugh, close to where the crash happened, said he had noticed the car’s tail-lights when passing the ditch.
He said: “I came across the taxi in the ditch. I could reach the neck of the passenger – I could tell there was no pulse. I couldn’t see the passenger or the driver very clearly.”
The inquest heard how Mr Sedgewick had been upset because the vehicle carried Derwentside taxi plates, and he knew his friends had been travelling back from Consett that evening.
But it was not until later that he found out it was his friend and clubmate in the taxi.
Police accident investigation experts told the inquest that the crash was probably caused by Mr Ahmed driving at an inappropriate speed for the stretch of road.
PC Colin Newman estimated that the vehicle would have been travelling at a speed of above 50mph – the legal limit on the road is 60mph – when he lost control of the vehicle on the blind summit.
He described how the car would have gone light and made it impossible for Mr Ahmed to negotiate a curve in the road, before careering into the verge and hitting the tree. At the time of the accident it was raining heavily.
Prior to the accident happening there were no signs to warn drivers of the dangerous nature of the road, although a sign and extra road markings are now in place.
Mark Fletcher, of Meadow View, Haltwhistle, got out of the taxi at Hexham.
He told the inquest that Mr Ahmed’s driving had been over-cautious because he had not known the road. Members of Mr Ahmed’s family expressed their confusion as to how the accident happened, as he was known to be a careful driver.
Both men died of multiple injuries. Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Eric Armstrong said: “Quite why the vehicle should have been travelling at a speed that was sufficient to cause the horrendous damage we don’t know.”
Sad tribute
THE chairman of Tynedale Rugby Club paid tribute to Andrew Robson both as a player and as a person.
Mr Robson played for the club, as well as previously representing Border Park, Kielder, and had represented Northumberland at senior level.
John Shotton described the back row forward as irreplaceable both on and off the pitch.
Mr Shotton, who had known Mr Robson for a number of years because he played rugby with his own son, said: "He was just one of nature’s nice people.
"I knew him from when he started in junior rugby and a nicer, more generous person you could not meet.
"He was also a really good rugby player – a real hard player on the pitch but a real gentleman off it.
"You cannot replace him as a person or as a player."
Mr Robson, who had his own electrical business, leaves a wife, Laura, and a young son, William.
