A MAN from Wrexham died after the vehicle he was driving crashed into a bakery in the city.
Ryan Anthony Bagnall, a forklift truck driver, of Berwig Court, Coedpoeth, died aged 26 on July 17, 2023.
Following a full inquest held in Ruthin on Friday, April 5, John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, recorded a conclusion of road traffic collision.
Mr Bagnall’s medical cause of death was noted as thoracic trauma, as a result of a road traffic accident.
The inquest heard that, in the early hours of July 17, Mr Bagnall was driving a white Vauxhall Corsa vehicle, accompanied by passenger Charlotte Williams, the car’s registered keeper.
But shortly after 2am, emergency services were called after the car had come off the road and hit a brick wall and a pillar at Gerrards bakery, on the A525 Ruthin Road.
Mr Bagnall and Ms Williams, who said she was “badly injured” by the crash and cannot remember it, had to be extricated from the vehicle.
The bakery’s own closed circuit television footage of the crash was played in court during the inquest.
Once freed from his vehicle, Mr Bagnall was transferred to Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
But despite attempts to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead at 3.49am.
Dr Mark Atkinson, in undertaking Mr Bagnall’s post-mortem examination, found traces of alcohol in samples of both his blood and urine, with no other drugs identified.
Though, Mr Gittins said there was “no evidence I can rely upon” to suggest Mr Bagnall was driving above the legal alcohol limit at the time of his death.
Forensic vehicle examiner Gary Owen-Roberts found no mechanical defects in the vehicle which would have contributed to Mr Bagnall’s initial loss of control of it, or the crash which followed.
In a statement, his mother said he is “missed every day”, but “did not understand why he was out so late”, given he was due in work that morning.
William Saynor, of North Wales Police’s Forensic Investigation Unit, added that the speed that Mr Bagnall was driving at when he crashed was incalculable based on the evidence before him.
Concluding, Mr Gittins offered his condolences to Mr Bagnall’s loved ones in attendance at the inquest, saying: “This is a young man who died in very tragic circumstances.”
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