Two boys aged just 6 and 7 were “desperately upset” and acted on the “spur of the moment” seconds before they were killed crossing a motorway, an inquest found today.
Kieran Coupe and his friend Guy Davies died from multiple injuries after being struck by two cars on the M56 near Runcorn as they tried to cross with their scooters.
Unsure which way to go, and upset after a telling off, they were trying to make their way home in the darkness to their houses in Preston Brook, at 7.20pm on October 24 2007 when the accident happened.
Today, the inquest at Warrington Town Hall concluded their deaths were unintentional and the coroner Nicholas Rheinberg recorded a narrative verdict.
“These were very young children,6 and 7 and quite probably absolutely terrified,” said Mr Rheinberg.
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“They were in alien surroundings, out way past the time they should be home and desperately upset. They acted on the spur of the moment without thought or consideration.”
Kieran, 7, and Guy, 6, had wandered off that afternoon despite being told not to stray from their homes.
A witness told the court she saw the boys hiding under an industrial digger at about 6pm, an hour before the collision, on land near the motorway where engineers had fixed broken underground water pipes.
The digger’s windows had been smashed and the woman confronted them about it, asking whether they were responsible. A helicopter was hovering nearby, and she told them that the crew was looking for whoever had vandalised the digger.
The boys left the site but doubled back onto it as she left, she said.
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The inquest heard it is possible the boys, scared of the dark and disorientated in the woodland where they were playing, headed through a gap in the fence around the site towards the lights of the motorway.
What happened next cannot be explained for certain, said the coroner. But from witness accounts and calls logged with the police, it is thought the boys somehow managed to cross the eastbound carriageway heading to Manchester.
They waited in the central reservation for a gap in the traffic and successfully crossed the westbound carriageway towards the Preston Brook Inn behind the embankment.
They then recrossed the westbound carriageway and stood in the central reservation.
For some reason, rather than cross the eastbound road again and head home they tried to go back towards the Inn but were hit by traffic.
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“Something made them change their mind,” said the coroner, adding it was ‘more probable than not’ the pair got on the motorway through the gap in the fence.
He said: “This has been very upsetting for all concerned, very much so for the parents and horrible to have to go through all this again two years after the event.
“I am sorry it has taken so long to bring the inquest to its conclusion. It has touched everyone more particularly than other tragedies.
“We all have children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews around that age and it is easier than other cases to empathise with the parents over their loss.”
A 30-metre (98 ft) section of fence blocking off the motorway had fallen down during the excavation work and engineers from Morgan Est, working on behalf of United Utilities, had erected a temporary replacement. But they took it away with them that afternoon and left just the digger.
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Roy Wood, a retired Highways Agency manager, said it was possible the boys got through the fence gap - but insisted they could have got on to the motorway anywhere.
Speaking outside court, Colin Lambert, Kieran’s father, said he would take legal action over the unsafe fence.
He said: “You don’t just put a little wooden fence up - you have to make sure people can’t get on the motorway. I blame the contractors. In my eyes you should replace the fence, and they didn’t do their job.
“Kieran will always be in my heart.”
Guy’s father, also called Guy, said he and his family were still devastated. He called for health and safety education in schools and said all motorways should be fully fenced off.
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Andy Withinton, of the Highways Agency, which manages the motorway network, said that his officials did make school visits.
“We would like to express our continuing sympathy for the families and friends of Kieran and Guy,” he said.
“This week’s inquest has underlined the dangers to anyone playing, crossing or walking on the motorway. We hope very much that we will see no more tragedies like this again.”