Mourner killed after friend's funeral

2:50pm Monday 5th May 2008

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AN inquest has heard how a man attending a friend's funeral was killed himself later the same day.

Mark Hammond, 39, had travelled down to Bexley from his home in Keelby, Lincolnshire, for the funeral on September 27, Croydon Coroner's Court heard.

After the funeral service, Mr Hammond, an operations manager, had gone to the wake, where he drank so much alcohol he would have been nearly four times over the drink-drive limit.

Driver Sandra Simpson said she recalled seeing Mr Hammond in Normanhurst Avenue, Bexleyheath.

She told the inquest last Thursday it was dark at the time and Mr Hammond was walking along the pavement.

She said: "He had his head down. He looked like he had had too much to drink."

Mrs Simpson said when she drove back the same way he was lying in the road.

She added: "I stopped my car. Other people were around, helping him. I was told a car had driven over him."

Another motorist, Steven Gibbs, said he had been turning right into Normanhurst Avenue when Mr Hammond had broken into a run and jumped out into the road, in front of his car, but he was able to swerve and avoid hitting him.

He told the inquest: "I looked for somewhere suitable to pull up and my daughter said another car had just come round the corner and had driven over him."

Suzanne Gadd was driving the car which ran over Mr Hammond.

She said: "I came over the entrance into Normanhurst Avenue and noticed something white.

"In that split second, I started going over what looked like a ramp or speed hump.

She added: "I pulled over. My daughter said: You have gone over a body'."

In his evidence, PC Michael Osbaldston said Mr Hammond had been wearing a dark suit and white shirt.

He said the white Mrs Gadd had seen was Mr Hammond's shirt.

PC Osbaldston said it was clear Mr Hammond had been lying on the ground when Mrs Gadd's car had run over his head and he had not been knocked down by her car.

Recording an accident verdict, Coroner Dr Roy Palmer said Mr Hammond must have slipped, fell or collapsed.

He added: "It is terribly ironic.

"You come to someone's funeral and end up in this situation."