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Dover Express, Friday 20 November 1936.
TILMANSTONE GIRL KILLED ON ROAD.
CYCLE ACCIDENT ON JOURNEY FROM SCHOOL.
The East Kent Coroner (Mr. Rutley Mowll) held an inquest at the Eastry
Institution on Wednesday afternoon
on an eleven-year-old girl, Doreen Emily Webb, daughter of the licensee
of the "Three Ravens,"
Tilmanstone, who died as the result of injuries she sustained when
involved in an accident while riding her
cycle home from Sandwich Central School on Monday afternoon.
Mr. Mowll sat with the following jury:— Messrs. W. Vousden (foreman), H.
L. Small, C. Woodruff, G. W.
Sedgewick. J. Horton, E. Gillman, R. Husk, A. V. Eldridge, and G.
Saunders.
Mr. Thorn Drury appeared for the driver of the car involved.
The Coroner said that at about half-past four on Monday afternoon the
deceased was returning from school,
with other pupils, on her cycle. They were coming down the hill, at the
bottom of which was Butts Hole
Pond, and the deceased was riding in the first pair of cyclists on the
offside. There were some men cyclists
coming up the hill, and a motor car, driven by Mr. John Martin Godrich,
of Ramsgate, was also coming up
the hill in the opposite direction to that in which the girls were
going. The motorist, apparently overtook the
men cyclists, and the offside of the car collided with this little girl,
with the result that she was thrown from
her bicycle, and died. She was dead when Dr. Wise arrived, the cause of
death being laceration of the brain
due to a fracture of the skull. Mr. Mowll added that this was an
important as well as a pathetic case.
Evidence of identification was given by the father, Ernest Edward Webb,
a retired police officer, licensee of
the "Three Ravens," Tilmanstone, who stated that his daughter had good
sight and hearing. She had been
cycling for about three years, and attended Sandwich Central School for
a fortnight, since they had moved,
she had been cycling to and fro to school. It was a new cycle, and she
had only had it about three weeks.
He last saw her alive at about 8.10 that morning, when she went to
school.
Cross-examined by Mr. Thorn Drury, witness said it was not the first
time she had ridden to school, as was
stated in a newspaper cutting.
Sadie Catherine Lawrence, Upper Street, Tilmanstone, aged 14, a pupil at
the Sandwich Central School,
said that on Monday afternoon she was riding home on a cycle, with the
deceased. They were alone,
another girl coming up about five minutes afterwards. They were riding
single file as they approached the
pond, the deceased being in front, about a yard ahead of witness.
Deceased was about 14 feet from the
near side. There were two men cyclists coming up the hill towards Eastry,
riding abreast. Then a car came
along behind the two men and overtook them as Doreen went down. The men
were still riding abreast when
the car overtook them. Doreen wobbled when she saw that she was not
going to miss the car, and could
see that it was going to hit her. Her cycle seemed to go straight
between the mudguard and bonnet of the
car, and then deceased fell back and lay on her back on the ground.
Witness’ cycle hit the front of
deceased’s and upset the front wheel. Deceased’s head was bleeding, and
one of the men cyclists ran
across the road and picker her up while the other went for a doctor. The
car went straight by, and drew into
its near side. A woman came out of a cottage and asked if she should
take the girl in, but she was taken
home to her parents.
Questioned by the Coroner, witness said there was nothing noticeable
about the pace of the car as it
came towards them.
The Coroner:- What did you mean when you said Doreen wobbled a bit when
she saw the car was going to
hit her?
Witness:- I think she must have lost her head a bit. I suppose here
hands shook and her front wheel shook,
too.
Further questioned, witness said that she did not think that deceased,
in the course of her wobbling, got
more than a foot and a half from her near side. It was hardly noticeable
if she did go further out into the
road.
The Coroner:- How was it the driver got so far over on his wrong side?
Witness:- he was overtaking the two men abreast.
Replying to Mr. Thorn Drury, witness said she and deceased were both
free-wheeling. She thought they had
just as much control over their machines as if they were pedalling. There
was nobody in front of them. When
they got half-way down the hill they passed two milk floats, and witness
believed she called out "Be careful!" because she had promised deceased's parents to look after
Doreen. She was not doing anything
that was dangerous, but it was more a habit for witness to say "Be
careful!" Deceased was quite a safe
rider, and witness was quite sure she did not speak again just as the
car was coming along. She did not tell
the police constable that she shouted out to Doreen to be careful just
as the car was coming along. Witness
thought that if deceased had kept a steady course she would have to hit
the car, because she could not get
any further over because there was a brick wall there.
Replying to Mr. Webb, witness said that when Doreen wobbled she was then
within striking distance of the
car and could not have avoided it if she had not wobbled.
Answering Inspector Gomar (K.C.C.), witness said that when the car
overtook the men cyclists their front
wheels were about level with the front wheel of Doreen's cycle. The
outer of the two cyclists was about
three feet from his near side bank. Witness did not fall into the road.
Replying to a juryman, witness said they were not going very fast down
the hill.
Sidney George Culver, Brook Street, Eastry, a lampman at Tilmanstone
Colliery, said he was cycling up the
hill at the time in question with a Mr. Smallman. They were riding
single file, witness having pulled in
behind because there was some traffic about when they came round by the
pond. He saw the two girls
cycling down the hill, the deceased being in front. Smallman was about
level with deceased when the car
came from behind witness and hit the girl. Smallman was about two feet
from his near side, and witness
might have been another six inches out into the road, but nothing to
speak of.
The Coroner:- Why was it necessary then, for the car to collide with the
girl?
Witness:- I should say he went over too far. He was trying to regain his
left side when he hit the girl.
Questioned by Inspector Gomar, witness said he could not say how far the
car was from its offside when the
collision occurred. He would say it was about a yard or a yard and a
half, but at the time the car was
obstructing his vision.
Replying to Mr. Thorn Drury, witness said the car was trying to cut in
in front of Smallman.
In reply to the foreman, witness said he was certain he was not riding
abreast. He had been doing so all the
way from the colliery, but he had to get behind at the pond because of
the traffic.
Questioned by a juryman, witness said the car was two or three yards
from witness when it passed him.
Witness agreed with Mr. Webb that the car hit the girl before it tried
to get back to its near side.
James Smallman, of Lower Street, Eastry, a miner at Tilmanstone
Colliery, said he was with Culver, and by
the pond there was so much traffic about that witness took the lead. On
getting further up the road he saw
some schoolchildren coming from Eastry down the hill, riding in single
file. When he got nearly opposite the
leading girl a car overtook him, and as it was passing the girl it
seemed to strike her front wheel. The girl
was thrown from her cycle, and witness ran across to her.
Replying to Mr. Webb, witness said he thought deceased was about a yard
from her near side when he first
saw her, and he thought the car should have got through without hitting
her.
In reply to Inspector Gomar, witness said the girls were riding at a
moderate speed, and he thought
deceased took a straight course.
Dr. Cecil S. Wise, of Sandwich, said he arrived at the scene of the
accident about 4.35 p.m., and the child
was then dead. There was a certain amount of blood coming from her head.
Witness made a post mortem
examination on the following afternoon, and found a clean cut about an
inch long on the top of the head
towards the right hand side. There were also bruises and grazes on the
right groin, thigh, and shin. He
found extensive fractures of the vault of the skull, and the brain was
lacerated, and in his opinion death was
due to laceration of the brain, due to the fracture of the skull. He
thought deceased probably hit her head
on some fairly sharp prominence on the car.
P.C. Stammers said that there was no mark on the car to account for
this. The off side mudguard was
buckled, and the off side lamp smashed.
Dr. Wise said that it might have been caused by a stone in the road, but
the road, was tarred at the spot.
Of course, it might have been done by her cycle.
Mrs. Norah Lovgreen, of Hillside, Lower Street, Eastry, said that at
about 4.15 p.m. on Monday she was
looking out of the window at her mother's house, one of the two cottages
on the hill below the "Coach and
Horses," and on the right-hand side going down towards the pond. She saw
two girls pass under the wall
riding abreast. As soon as they passed, witness heard a crash.
The Coroner:- Are you aware that that is exactly the opposite side of
the road to that mentioned by all the
other witnesses?
Yes.
The Coroner:- Are you sure that they were the two girls?
Yes; because I heard the crash immediately afterwards.
You see what the effect of your evidence is—that the girls were on the
wrong side I of the road?
Yes. I can only think that they realised that they were on the wrong
side and tried to cross over.
Witness added that the scene of the accident was about 30 yards down the
hill from the cottage.
Replying to Mr. Webb, witness said that she did not know deceased, but
she recognised the other girl who
had given evidence that afternoon as one of the two she saw—the one who
was riding on the far side.
In reply to Inspector Gomar, witness said she thought that the girls,
had they gone straight on, would have
collided with the cyclists coming up the hill. The fact that the girls
were on the wrong side of the road drew
her attention to them.
Questioned by a juryman, witness said that she did not see the milk
floats mentioned by a previous witness.
Mrs. Rosa Hambropk, of Mill Road, Eastry, said that she was in her
mother's cottage at Lower Street,
Eastry, on Monday afternoon. It was the house nearest the pond, and
witness was looking out of the
window, but the first she knew about it was that she heard a crash and
saw the little girl fall off her cycle
right opposite. She fell towards the wall, with her back towards the
handlebars. Witness did not see
anything of the car.
Questioned by Inspector Gomar, witness said that deceased was only half
a yard to a yard from the wall as
she fell. Her head touched the wall as she fell.
The Coroner said that they had not completed all the evidence that was
available, but they had taken most
of it, and he was extremely anxious that no opportunity should be lost
of having before them any persons
who could give any light on that important case, and he thought that if
he adjourned it for a fortnight, until
December 2nd, that would give ample time for any person who really saw
it to come forward and notify the
Police. It seemed curious that in a rather busy place like Eastry there
should be no eye witness other than
the people who were actually travelling on the road at the time. Those
people who saw from their window
were not quite the same. He would have thought there would have been
some people about at that time of
day. He wanted to emphasise that the jury should not make up their minds
until they had heard all the
evidence and they should not get talking about the case. It was not for
outsiders to advise them.
The inquiry was then adjourned until December 2nd.
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(Son-in-law of above)
(From Monkton)
