‘Friendly’ Doncaster teen died after horror crash during storm, inquest told

Shannon Lewis, 18, was hit by a car in Wood Street at around 4.30pm on December 15, 2018, and died the following day in Northern General Hospital in Sheffield.

During an inquest held at Doncaster Coroners’ Court on March 4, the court heard how Ms Lewis was knocked over as she attempted to cross the road after being dropped off by her aunt Naomi Lewis to start a shift at Yates bar.

Ms Lewis told the court: “I saw a car turn onto Wood Street then I heard a bang. I saw Shannon go up into the air and she somersaulted then fell on the ground.”

Ben Hone, 20, was driving the black Volkswagen Scirocco that hit Shannon, and described the visibility at the time of the crash, which took place during a storm with heavy rainfall, as ‘poor’.

Giving evidence to the court, Mr Hone said he had driven into Doncaster town centre to give his mother-in-law and her friend a lift.

After dropping them off he continued down Wood Street until he heard a ‘bang’.

“Visibility was very poor I didn’t see anything,” said Mr Hone, adding that he could not remember the speed he was travelling at but recalled that he reversed back onto a curb, parked then got out of his vehicle to see what had happened.

Witness Natalie Cullen was driving on the other side of Wood Street when the collision took place.

She said: “The weather was absolutely horrendous, I was driving very slowly due to the rain. Then I saw a car coming towards me and at the same time a figure ran out into the road.

“I saw Shannon hit the floor and couldn’t believe what I had just seen...I saw the young man fall back onto the bonnet of his car and raise his hands to his head as if to say ‘what have I done’.”

The emergency services were called to the scene and Ms Lewis was rushed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary, before being transferred to Northern General where she died on December 16 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Ms Lewis’ autopsy was carried out by pathologist Dr Harris Muzaaffer who concluded she suffered a traumatic head injury which led to a brain stem injury and caused multiple cardiac arrests.

In a statement read to the court, Ms Lewis’ mother Lisa Shaw described her as ‘happy, friendly and would help anyone’.

“She was often too kind and put others in front of herself.

“She was one of ten siblings with seven sisters and two brothers.

“She was kind-hearted and a pillar of support for our entire family - she was thoughtful and caring for others,” Ms Shaw added.

Coroner Simon Tate concluded that the cause of death was a traumatic head injury as the result of a road traffic collision.

He did not find Mr Hone had driven with excessive speed or fault that would be a cause of the accident.