Death-crash questions spurned

Paul Rogers was driving the fire engine down Attercliffe Common in response to a hoax call, in which the caller had claimed a warehouse in Sheffield Old Road, Rotherham, was on fire.

En route to the bogus fire, however, the engine hit a blue Subaru

Impreza which was pulling out of Weedon Street.

Driver Nicola Jayne Stacey, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene and her daughter Lauren, 10, who was in the passenger seat, was taken to Sheffield Children's Hospital with serious injuries.

Coroner Christopher Dorries said at yesterday's inquest in Sheffield: "That hoax call was made by a man called Ian Paterson. Mr Paterson, when he was later arrested, said his was one of several calls that he had made for a laugh because he was bored. He has been dealt with, for that, in a criminal court."

Pathologist Julian Burton, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Ms Stacey, said she had died from multiple injuries.

Mother-of two Ms Stacey, a full-time housewife, lived with her partner of 16 years Barry Stevens and their two daughters in Shiregreen, Sheffield.

At yesterday's inquest into her death, Mr Rogers refused to answer a series of questions, only confirming he had been a firefighter for eight years and had been driving appliances since passing the relevant exams in 2005.

He refused to say if he had driven through any red lights, if he had the sirens blaring and how fast he was driving.

The court, however, heard Mr Rogers had given a statement to police at the scene of the fatal crash, which took place on June 29 2008, in which he said that he had gone through several red lights on Attercliffe Road and Attercliffe Common after leaving Darnall fire station.

As he approached the junction with Weedon Street, Mr Rogers had told police, the traffic light was on red. As a result, he drove into the junction with his sirens on at a "distinctly reduced" speed – in line with regulations –before colliding with the car being driven by Ms Stacey.

Giving evidence yesterday, the other firefighters who were in the appliance at the time of the collision – Sarah Jane McDowell, Craig Binnington and crew manager Russell Benniston - said they could not recall how fast Mr Rogers was driving, if he had his sirens blaring when the crash occurred, or if he had driven through red lights.

Mr Binnington said he had taken "particular notice" Mr Rogers was using a longer siren as well as a two-tone siren during the journey but couldn't be sure if he was sounding the siren or not as the engine approached the junction with Weedon Street.

All three said they were unaware of how many red lights the fire engine may have passed through, as they were busy.

The court was told photographic evidence showed the engine passed through a red light at one junction at 28mph or 29mph – far higher than the "crawling" speed firefighters are advised to drive at.

Miss McDowell told the nine-strong jury: "There was nothing out of the ordinary as we were progressing to the fire call."

The inquest heard CCTV evidence from cameras on the outside of the fire engine had been corrupted. All four firefighters denied tampering with it.

Ms Stacey was said to be an ultra-cautious driver, especially when one of her daughters was in the car.

The inquest continues.