Pensioner dies after being run over twice - once by own car

Kenneth Phillips, 72, was also hit by the vehicle of a man who had suffered a blackout at the wheel, his inquest was told.

Pc Nigel Martin was in an unmarked car waiting at the Vine Island on the Stafford Road in Wolverhampton when he saw the tragedy unfold. He told the hearing: "The whole incident last about 10 seconds. It went from dead calm to complete carnage in seconds. I was trying to process what we were witnessing."

The inquest heard Michael Anderson, aged 77, had initially simply jolted the back of Mr Phillips' green Peugeot 106 with his semi -automatic silver turbo diesel Citroen C4 when he blacked out at the roundabout on January 16 last year.

Mr Phillips, from Vaughan Road, Willenhall, and his wife, Marion, got out to find Mr Anderson unresponsive with his eyes open at the wheel.

As Mr Phillips returned to the Peugeot, the Citroen moved forward and struck it, trapping him under his own car. The Citroen continued to accelerate forward, hitting Mr Phillips again before crashign into a tree.

The Peugeot ended up in some railings.

Mrs Phillips and passers-by, including Pc Martin, looked after Mr Phillips before medics arrived and he was taken to New Cross hospital. He died later that day.

Mrs Phillips said: "Ken had so many friends. He had no enemies he was so popular. We had eight children together. We lost our eldest son, David, who was 35, eight years ago. But we were always laughing and joking."

Mr Anderson had to be cut from the wreckage of his car by fire crews before also being taken to hospital. He suffered a broken hip, knee and thigh and has since handed his driving licence into the DVLA.

He is still undergoing health tests and wears a heart monitor.

Mr Anderson said to the family of the victim: "I just want to say I'm sorry, so so sorry for what you've been through. I'm not comparing what I've been through to you, I know you've suffered a lot."

Mrs Phillips, surrounded by seven members of her family, including her daughter, son, daughter in law and granddaughter, declared: "I will never get over it. We'd have been married 50 years in March. I've been feeling suicidal since."

The cause of death was confirmed as multiple injuries as a consequence of a road traffic collision.

Zafar Siddique, lead coroner for the Black Country, concluded that Mr Phillips died by way of a road traffic collision.