Kiveton man was crushed by his car

Andrew Collins, 41, of Wales Road, Kiveton Park, died outside his home on 31st March.

The inquest at Rotherham Coroner’s Court on Wednesday heard that Mr Collins had been at home with his daughter Daisy Collins on the morning of 31st March.

In a statement she said he was up and doing the washing at around 9am when she got up and was his ‘usual self’.

She left at about 10.30am to go to her mum’s house in Rotherham. At around 3pm she tried to call her dad as she needed help with her car, but got no reply.

“At about 4pm I called my dad’s partner Tiffany and she told me she would try and get hold of him, but that I should keep trying,” she said.

“It was unusual for him not to answer as he never misses a call. At about 6pm I got a message from a friend saying I should get home quick because something had happened to him. At 6.30pm I got home and saw all the emergency services.”

The inquest heard his partner of nine years Tiffany Brook saw him that morning and he told her he was going to do some work on his car.

He had changed the brakes a couple of weeks before but was unhappy as they were squeaking.

“I left to go shopping at about 10.45am and that was the last time I saw him alive,” she said.

“My son tried to call him at 1pm and didn’t get an answer and I sent him a text at 3.24pm and didn’t get any reply. I went back round to the house and was shouting him, but got no response.”

“I walked round the front of the car and saw his legs, I touched his legs and spoke to him but he didn’t say anything.”

She walked round the other side of the car and saw that it was on top of him.

The inquest heard she flagged down a man driving a van who tried to jack up the car, but they couldn’t get him out.

The fire service arrived and got Mr Collins out from under the car but paramedics were unable to resuscitate him.

PC Andy House, a forensic collision investigator with South Yorkshire Police, said the car had been jacked up with bottle jacks.

He said he believed the jacks moved while Mr Collins was worked under the car, causing the car to fall, trapping him.

A post mortem report showed Mr Collins had suffered shock lung as a result of compression.

Coroner for Rotherham Nicola Mundy said it was likely that the accident happened at some point between 11am and 1pm based on when Mr Collins stopped answering his phone.

“This was a tragic accident that had catastrophic consequences for Mr Collins,” she added.

Ms Mundy returned a verdict of accidental death.