‘World renowned’ Sheffield antiques dealer and dad-of-two died in horror Parkway crash
and live on Freeview channel 276
Senior Coroner David Urpeth heard that Richard John Howitt, 56, of Lyndhurst Road, Nether Edge, was travelling on the A57 Sheffield Parkway on Sunday October 13, 2019, when he was involved in the collision close to the exit for Parkway Drive and sadly died.
Emergency services were called to the scene and Lee Ainscough, the driver of another vehicle seen to be travelling close to Mr Howitt’s car shortly before the collision, was subsequently questioned and his car was seized under investigation. He was not charged with any criminal offence.
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Hide AdThe court heard from Mr Ainscough that at around 7.10pm he was travelling home from work when he saw Mr Howitt’s BMW 4-series in his rear view mirror.
He said: “The vehicle was gaining on me and travelling at speed and it was very close to my vehicle.
"The car was behind me for a long period so I decided I was going to pull off the parkway. [I did this] just to get out of the way as it seemed to be following me and I didn’t know why.”
Mr Ainscough said that he was concerned that he was going to be ‘car jacked’ as he had read stories about his model of SEAT being stolen.
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Hide AdHowever, in what Mr Urpeth described as ‘strange behaviour’ Mr Ainscough then travelled back towards Park Square roundabout and rejoined the Parkway Eastbound, revisiting the scene of the incident.
Mr Ainscough said this was because he had not seen the black BMW pass him as be pulled off, and he was ‘curious’.
He said that he drove past the scene and saw the black BMW and emergency workers, and then drove home as it was ‘nothing to do with him’. He was questioned by police later that evening.
Speaking at the inquest, Mr Urpeth said: “It is odd, having pulled off to get away from the car, to then go back and look for it.”
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Hide AdMr Urpeth asked Mr Ainscough: “Were you racing with Mr Howitt’s car?”
Mr Ainscough replied: “One hundred per cent not.”
Giving evidence at the inquest, forensic collision investigator Alexander Holmes said that recreations of the incident showed that Mr Howitt was travelling at around 85mph when he ‘lost control’ on his vehicle. The speed limit for that stretch of road is 50mph.
Mr Howitt then ‘span anti-clockwise onto the embankment’ and collided with the tree at an estimated 49mph.
Investigating officer PC Christopher Whitehead said that CCTV footage showed Mr Howitt’s BMW travelling at speed behind Mr Ainscough’s SEAT.
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Hide AdHe said that at one point Mr Ainscough has pulled in to the inside lane to let Mr Howitt pass however the BMW had instead followed him into the inside lane and continued to travel close behind him, at speed.
PC Whitehead added that he felt Mr Ainscough’s decision to go back to the scene and look for the BMW was ‘feasible with regards to concerns and worries he may have had.’
Mr Urpeth found that Mr Howitt died of multiple traumatic injuries and that his death was the result of a road traffic collision.