Excess pain medication in system of elderly woman led to crash which killed couple, inquest finds

The driver of a car that collided with a tree, killing herself and her husband, had excess pain medication in her system, an inquest has heard.

Valerie (78) and Kenneth (80) Eley from Baston died following a crash along Carlby Road- heading towards Braceborough- in Stamford, at around 3:30pm on July 3.

The white Mercedes A180 was being driven by Mrs Eley, who died at the scene as a result of severe traumatic injuries.

Mr Eley was flown via air ambulance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge but died shortly after.

The inquest concluded that he died as a result of suffering a cardiac arrest following polytrauma from the crash.

The toxicology report from Mrs Eley showed that she had both Tramadol and codeine in her system- Mrs Eley suffered with lower back pain.

The level of Tramadol found in her system was described as a “level previously associated with fatalities.”

Assistant Coroner Marianne Johnson said: “The toxicology report for Valerie Eley which concludes that Tramadol and Codeine, when taken in combination can cause excess sedation.”

No other contributing factors for the crash were found and it was therefore concluded that the high levels of Tramadol in Mrs Eley's body were the most likely cause.

There were two witnesses- who were travelling in the same car- to the crash, with both stating that the way the vehicle veered to the opposite side of the road and made no attempt to avoid the tree “made no sense.”

In a witness statement, Jessica Sheehan-White said: “For no apparent reason, the car appeared to casually veer off towards the opposite side of the road before hitting a verge before hitting a tree after travelling about 30 meters.

"There was nothing in the way, there were no hazards and the part of road where the car come off was completely straight.

“It made no sense why the car left the road and hit the tree, there were no hazards, no brake lights and it appeared that the car made no attempt up pull away from the verge or avoid the tree.”

Both witnesses Miss Sheehan-White and her partner Jordan Goodwin then went to offer assistance to Mr and Mrs Eley.