Woman died after being hit by nurse outside Glan Clywd Hospital

A woman who was run over by a nurse outside a hospital after visiting her newborn grandchild died as a result of several factors, an inquest has heard.

Mary Owen-Jones, 51, of Rhos-on-Sea, Conwy county, was hit by Chloe Thelwell, who was finishing her shift at Glan Clwyd Hospital, Denbighshire, on New Year’s Day 2023.

An inquest in Ruthin heard she was taken to the hospital’s A&E department with a broken leg before being airlifted to Stoke, where she died from a bleed on the brain 36 hours later.

A coroner recorded a conclusion of death in a road traffic collision and pointed to a combination of factors as the cause.

Ms Thelwell admitted to police that she cut a corner after leaving the main car park and was driving at 10-15mph (16-24km/h), with the advisory limit in the hospital grounds being 10mph.

Witnesses said the distraught nurse told witnesses she “didn’t see” Ms Owen-Jones.

Dewi Wyn Williams said Ms Thelwell’s windscreen on her Audi was completely misted up and he thought to himself: “No wonder you didn’t see her, you can’t see anything.”

Ms Thelwell told police she did not think her windscreen was misted up as she would not have been able to get out of the car park’s awkward exit if it was.

Forensic crash investigator Ian Thompson said as he did not arrive at the scene until some time later, by which time the car had been moved, so could not comment on the windscreen.

He said Ms Owen-Jones who was wearing dark clothes, crossed a few metres from an illuminated pedestrian crossing and should have seen the car with its headlights and indicator on.

Those factors, plus the fact Ms Thelwell had cut the corner, all played a part in the crash.

Ms Owen-Jones’s bleed on the brain was exacerbated by anti-coagulant Warfarin which she had been prescribed after a heart operation.

John Gittins, senior coroner for north Wales east and central, said the Crown Prosecution Service considered bringing a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, but decided there was no realistic prospect of a jury finding Ms Thelwell guilty.

Recording a conclusion of death in a road traffic collision, he said: “It was a combination of all the elements.”