Retired Shropshire scout leader died after a fall when his car reversed off the back of a recovery truck, inquest hears

The incident happened after he called for roadside assistance when he and his wife Mavis became stranded after their car broke down.

An inquest into his death was held at Shropshire Coroner’s Court, Guildhall, Shrewsbury, where it was said that a witness shouted at recovery truck driver Julian Stone: “You’ve hit him!”

However, there was no dashcam or CCTV footage, and none of the witnesses could be positive when they spoke to police that they saw the car hit Mr Hegenbarth before he fell.

Detective Constable Richard Owen confirmed that West Mercia Police consulted the Crown Prosecution Service but the force were advised there was not a realistic prospect of conviction of Mr Stone for causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving.

Couple were heading to Oswestry town centre

The court was told that Mr and Mrs Hegenbarth, who lived in Ellesmere, had set off for Oswestry town centre on the morning of January 9 this year but their Citroen Berlingo later broke down.

Two men pushed the vehicle into Gobowen Road for them before Mr Hegenbarth called for roadside help.

Mr Stone attended, having struggled to initially find the Hegenbarths due to being sent eight miles away to St Martins.

In a prepared statement, Mr Stone said he believed there was a problem with the starter motor of the Citroen.

“He (Mr Hegenbarth) stated his wife was diabetic and she needed to go to the toilet,” Mr Stone said. “My girlfriend is diabetic so I had some sympathy. I wanted to help them get home.”

Mr Stone decided to try and “bump-start” the Citroen by winching it up onto his truck and then rolling it backwards, hoping that would kick the engine into life and Mr and Mrs Hegenbarth could get home without their car being towed.

“I told him what would happen,” Mr Stone said. “He agreed and appeared to understand what I was intending to do.

“I asked him to get his wife out of the car and told them to remain on the pavement.

“I had no reason to think either would move from where they were standing.”

Mr Stone said he went back to the cab to winch the Citroen onto the recovery truck, before getting in the Citroen and reversing it off.

However, he discovered Mr Hegenbarth was injured when another motorist started shouting at him.

“The first I knew there had been an accident was when I heard ‘you know you’ve hit him, don’t you?’”

Mr Stone said Mr Hegenbarth was on the floor, saying “sorry” multiple times.

“He didn’t offer any explanation as to why he was saying sorry,” Mr Stone said.

Witnesses rushed to the scene

Witnesses rushed to the scene and tended to Mr Hegenbarth, calling an ambulance and trying to make him comfortable with coats and blankets.

Motorists Nicola Davies and Caroline Wood were two of the first on the scene.

Ms Davies described Mr Hegenbarth as twisting, losing his footing and falling “almost in slow motion”. She said: “He was fully conscious. He said he had pain in his left hip and his left arm.”

She suggested the Citroen may have “nudged” Mr Hegenbarth, but could not be certain.

Ms Wood said she did not see anything hit him.

Another motorist on the scene, Tracey Thomas, told Mr Stone he had hit Mr Hegenbarth at the scene.

However later, she told police she could not confirm if Mr Hegenbarth was hit by the vehicle, but “could see no other explanation” for the fall.

Mr Hegenbarth was rushed to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, where it was discovered he had fractured the neck of his femur inside the hip joint. He already had a number of medical conditions including emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which made him at risk of contracting other respiratory illnesses.

He died in hospital six days later on January 15.

A long affinity with the Scouts

Mr Hegenbarth’s son Robert was in attendance at the inquest, and a statement from him was read.

In it, he said that his father was born in Handsworth, Birmingham and was one of 14 siblings - 12 boys and two girls.

Mr Hegenbarth had long affinity with the Scouts from when he was a boy up until he was in his 80s, and led the 1st Much Wenlock Scouts with his son for 30 years.

He did national service in Cyprus, living in the mountains and sharing his love of the outdoors with others.

He later became an education welfare officer before retiring in his early 60s to focus on scouting and gardening.

Mr Hegenbarth and family lived in Telford and Much Wenlock, before he and his wife moved to Ellesmere later in their lives.

His son said that had the accident not happened and Mr Hegenbarth died naturally of his illnesses, the family “would have had time to come to terms with it”.

“His last days in the hospital were difficult,” he said. “He was hallucinating. He knew who we were but it felt like we were in a different place. We were with him when he died.”He said his father’s funeral was attended by many ex-Scouts, who affectionately knew him as “Skip”.

Heath Westerman, deputy coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said he would take time to consider his conclusion and likely share it on Friday, August 8.