Junior doctor died after another driver swerved head on into oncoming livestock lorry

A junior doctor died after another motorist swerved head-on towards an oncoming livestock lorry which then ploughed into her car, an inquest heard.

Maisie Ryan, 27, was killed instantly when the "out of control" lorry ploughed into her Fiat 500 following 21-year-old student Oliver Knott's "unexplained" manoeuvre.

Mr Knott, who was studying geography at the University of Liverpool, also died at the scene of the crash on the A65 in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, in February 2021.

He was driving his Ford Fiesta from his family home in Ilkley to a dental appointment in Shipley at the time, an inquest heard.

Other drivers witnessed the student overtaking traffic on the A65 Addingham bypass when he suddenly swerved into the path of a Scania cattle truck travelling in the other direction, causing a head-on crash.

Mr Knott was also killed instantly and the impact disabled the lorry's steering, causing it to career out of control, the inquest heard.

It struck a glancing blow to another HGV in the opposite carriageway before hitting Ms Ryan’s Fiat as she drove to work at Airedale Hospital in nearby Keighley.

Anna Robinson, who was driving the livestock transporter, was left dangling upside down in the cab suspended by her seatbelt and suffered serious injuries.

Bradford Coroner's Court heard Mr Knott had been "worried and preoccupied" about the root canal treatment he was booked in for.

But police investigators could find no obvious cause of the collision and there were no defects to the vehicles involved or the road.

Ms Ryan's father Paul told the inquest she grew up in Derby and attended Newcastle University before starting her medical career with hospital posts in Yorkshire.

He described her as "caring, dedicated, selfless, driven, loving and sociable". Colleagues at Airedale Hospital have named a staff quiet room after her.

Mr Knott's father Craig said he had turned down the chance to join a football academy because he preferred to play with his friends.

He told the inquest: "He brought energy to the family dynamic. He was sociable and polite and the impact of losing him has been impossible to put into words."

Eyewitness Lauren Richardson said she saw Mr Knott's Fiesta pull out into the overtaking lane to pass a Volvo flatbed lorry driven by Roy Clifford.

She said: "The Fiesta suddenly and abruptly veered into the opposite lane at about a 60-degree angle. It hit the large cattle transporter coming towards it."

She described a "scene of devastation" as the livestock lorry, which was taking 16 cattle from a farm in Lancashire to a slaughterhouse in Pontefract, had overturned.

All drivers involved were tested for drugs and alcohol and all readings came back negative, the court heard. There was also no evidence of mobile phone usage when handsets were analysed.

Postmortems showed Mr Knott was unlikely to have suffered a medical episode. But evidence from his GP was read to the inquest that revealed he'd not been sleeping in the days before the crash.

And from 2019, he'd sought treatment and counselling for low mood, and been prescribed antidepressants.

However, by the time of the accident, his mental state was said to have "turned a corner".

His father said he thought the issues were connected to disciplinary proceedings against him by the university, which took 16 months to conclude.

Mr Knott added: "We had no concerns about him. He was just a typical lad of his age.

"He was concerned about his dental work because he was queasy about needles and blood."

DC Martin Burns said police found paracetamol and ibuprofen in a glass underneath Mr Knott's bed.

Analysis of his laptop revealed online searches for suicide methods involving painkillers, but there were no searches related to vehicle-related methods.

Forensic collision investigator Robert Crispin told the inquest: "Maisie had tried to take evasive action, but there was nowhere for her to go.

"There is no evidence Oliver's driving was untoward before the impact, but also no physical evidence to suggest why he encroached into the Scania's lane.

"The reason is unknown. It's impossible to say if he was distracted by something like a stone through the windscreen, because the car was destroyed."

Returning a conclusion of death in a road traffic collision for both Ms Ryan and Mr Knott, senior coroner Martin Fleming said: “It is a combined tragedy of gigantic proportions.

"Two young, promising individuals with so much ahead of them have been lost and I am so very sorry."

Additional reporting by Grace Newton.