ACCIDENT TRAGEDY; Man crushed under vehicle.

Byline: LAURA CAROE

A MAN was crushed to death by his own car. Despite frantic efforts to release Michael Scott from underneath his Ford Fiesta, he died shortly afterwards at Newcastle General Hospital.

The 46-year-old was attempting to fix the brakes on the car at Blaydon Trade Park, in Gateshead, when the jack gave way and the car fell on top of his chest.

Although no-one saw the accident, devastated family and friends of Michael, who ran a brickyard, heard at an inquest into his death how John Moor and several others tried to help him.

Mr Moor said: "A young lad ran into the shop and shouted 'there is a man trapped under a car'.

"I was taken aback. There were three of us who picked the car up, which was resting on his chest.

"There was a jack there but it looked like it had fallen over so the car had come down and the man was underneath. One of the men checked for a pulse but he couldn't find anything. We didn't know how long he had been under there."

His mum Pauline Noble told the inquest at Newcastle Civic Centre yesterday, how her son had told her earlier that day that "someone was trying to do him in".

She said: "I saw Michael at my home that day. He told me someone was trying to do him in. It won't leave me. He did smoke cannabis but I found it odd the police were round later that day telling me he had died.

"It will never leave me." But PC Scott Miller, who attended the incident on July 13 at around 4.40pm, assured the court the police had been unable to find any evidence of foul play.

Three men passing the scene, which was close to the Floors2Go unit, found Michael. They were joined by two others and they lifted the car to release him, before calling for an ambulance.

A post-mortem found that Michael, of Rendel Street, Dunston, Gateshead, died as a result of pressure injuries and had several broken ribs.

Newcastle coroner David Mitford recorded a verdict of accidental death. He said: "It is clearly an accidental death."

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NO FOUL PLAY: The Ford Fiesta belonging to Michael Scott and, right, our front page story