Wife who drifted off road in fatal Stamford crash was on strong painkillers

A driver from Baston who died along with her husband after their car hit a tree had high levels of pain medication in her system.

An inquest heard that Valerie Eley, 78, had a combination of Tramadol and codeine which may have led to excess sedation.

The Mercedes A180 she was driving towards Braceborough suddenly started drifting and left Carlby Road in mid-afternoon on July 3 last year.

Mrs Eley died at the scene and husband Kenneth, 80, died shortly after being flown by air ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

The inquest at Myle Cross Centre in Lincoln on Wednesday heard written evidence from two witnesses in the same car following the Eleys. They both said the manoeuvre “made no sense”.

Jessica Sheehan-White said: “For no apparent reason the car appeared to casually veer off towards the right, across the opposite side of the road, then hit the verge before hitting a tree after about 30 metres.”

She added that the stretch of road was straight, there were no hazards, there were no brake lights from the Mercedes and there was no attempt to avoid hitting the tree.

Miss Sheehan-White and her partner stopped to help the couple.

Mrs Eley was a long-time sufferer with lower back pain.

Assistant coroner Marianne Johnson said: “I have the toxicology report for Valerie Eley which concludes that Tramadol and codeine, when taken in combination, may have caused excess sedation.”

A forensic examination of the crashed car by police found no contributory factors.

And a crash investigation found that the most likely cause was Mrs Eley having a high level of Tramadol in her blood.

Her cause of death was severe traumatic injuries and Mr Eley suffered cardiac arrest upon arrival at hospital following polytrauma in the crash.

Ms Johnson concluded that both Mr and Mrs Eley, of Maltby Drive, died as a result of a road traffic collision.

MyLocal Lincolnshire is the new home of The Lincolnite. Download the app now