'Wonderful' great-grandfather died in head-on Leeds crash with cement truck after 'cardiac episode'

Robert 'Bob' Mitchell, 75, from Ossett, died on January 22 last year after the red Toyota Land Cruiser that he was driving collided with the Renault truck on Selby Road in Micklefield.

An inquest into his death was held in Wakefield on Wednesday (March 11), where it was established that Mr Mitchell had swerved into the path of the truck before the crash, due to what was believed to be a cardiac episode.

Speaking after the inquest, his family said they remain "heartbroken".

They paid tribute to the beloved great-grandfather, who had been a professional rugby player in Huddersfield in the 1960s before going on to work as an engineer at a garage that he ran with his brothers.

The inquest was opened by a statement read out by his daughter, Joanne Jones, in which she described him as a "wonderful dad", adding: "When I think about my dad and the life he lived I'm just so proud of him."

Mr Mitchell was born the youngest of 10 children and signed as a rugby player for Huddersfield in 1968.

He played two seasons in West Yorkshire as a second rower before an injury that resulted in him losing an eye cut his career short.

Mr Mitchell’s other passion was “anything with wheels and an engine” and he went on to run a garage with his brothers and collect vintage American cars, for which he featured on the TV show ‘Men and Motors’.

He also built his own home and a number of other properties on Cardigan Lane in Ossett, where he lived for the rest of his life.

He met and married his wife in 1974 and had two children. At the time of his death he had three grandchildren and one great-grandson. There was “hundreds at his funeral” which “showed how loved he was”.

Mrs Jones said: “To sum up, my dad was the best of blokes who worked hard for what he achieved. I miss him so much and would give so much to have him back here with us, even if only for a day.”

The area coroner leading the inquest, Oliver Longstaff, said: "One of the privileges of this job is you get to hear about people who you would not otherwise get to hear about. This is one of those days.”

The court heard that Mr Mitchell had suffered with heart problems in the years leading up to his death.

On the day of his death, Mr Mitchell had left the home after speaking to a friend at around 11.30am to attend a doctor’s appointment, which he never attended.

The crash happened as he drove westward on Selby Road shortly after midday, having just exited the Boot and Shoe Roundabout from Great North Road.

The driver of the truck was arrested following the crash on suspicion of causing death by careless driving, but statements gathered during the police investigation found that he “couldn’t have done anything to avoid it”.

A post-mortem report from Dr Rob Ainsworth linked the cause of the crash to Mr Mitchell’s history of heart failure, saying that he was in a state that he “could have suffered an acute cardiac episode at any time”. However, he said that his injuries were so significant that it was hard to establish exactly what had happened.

The official cause of death was registered as a road traffic collision that may have been brought about by a severe cardiac episode.

The family said they remained uncertain following the outcome. Mrs Jones said: “We still don’t understand the circumstances as on that morning he was only supposed to be going to his doctor’s in Ossett and said he would be straight back.

“However, the crash happened in Leeds and I can’t understand why this has happened. We don’t know if he’s had a medical episode and got confused.

“We have every confidence in his driving.”

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Mitchell’s sister Kathrine Fox said: “It’s answered some questions but I think there will always be a slight concern of whether he had had a cerebral incident and whether that caused some confusion. We wonder if he was going in the wrong direction because we don’t know why he was where he was.”

She added: “It was not the other driver’s fault and we are relieved that other families aren’t involved and that the lorry driver was okay because we appreciate it could have been different.”