Fatal crash car drove straight into my lorry; Man was four times limit and on wrong side of dual carriageway.

Byline: ELLEN BRANAGH

A MAN drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway while he was nearly four times the drink-drive limit, an inquest heard yesterday.

Gareth Edwards, 57, of Yr Hafan, Bala, Gwynedd, died of multiple injuries after his Mitsubishi pick-up truck crashed headlong into a lorry on the A14 near Rothwell, Northamptonshire, in the early hours of November 12 last year.

An inquest into his death at Kettering Magistrates Court heard Mr Edwards told friends he was having relationship trouble with his wife of 40 years.

Mr Edwards, a dad of two, who was born and bred in Bala, was working in Northamptonshire as a dumper truck driver for Wales-based civil engineering company Jones Bros.

He and work colleagues were staying in caravans and would regularly drink together in the evening.

On November 11, Mr Edwards drank about eight or nine pints with his friends then left the pub in his pick-up.

Several witnesses saw him driving the wrong way on the eastbound carriageway of the A14 before hitting a lorry at about 1am.

A post-mortem found Mr Edwards suffered multiple broken bones, including his skull, as well as injuries to his internal organs.

In a statement read to the inquest Rhonn Wyn Thomas, from Cwmonnen, Llanuwchllyn, Bala, who also worked for Jones Bros, said Mr Edwards' marriage problems came out when he was drinking.

"He was very down about it and saying he didn't expect it to happen with his wife of 40 years," he said.

On the night of the accident lorry driver Henryk Krudos was overtaking another lorry when he spotted a flash.

"I realised it was a car driving the wrong way straight into me," he said.

"I braked once, moved as close to the barriers as I could. The car driving into me had no lights on.

"I carried on braking but the car hit my left side. It was two seconds, there was nothing I could have done to avoid that accident."

A statement from Mr Edwards' wife Brenda, who was at yesterday's inquest, said her husband would be "missed by all of us dearly".

She said although he only passed his driving test in May 1997 he had been driving without a licence for many years, but she said he was not confident.

Collision investigator PC Mark Marrocco, who investigated the scene after the crash, told the inquest: "The collision occurred either due to the effects of the large amount of alcohol consumed by Mr Edwards or it was a deliberate action due to emotional or mental upset."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember said: "Sadly the gentleman drove when grossly intoxicated and drove the wrong way for a considerable distance."