BOSTON LINCS

A pensioner who died after she fell backwards down a flight of steps and landed on her head may have had an epileptic seizure, in inquest heard.

Jean Lord, 71, fell from the top of eight concrete stairs outside her first-floor home in Grange Road, Bracebridge Heath.

The incident was witnessed by a taxi driver who had just dropped her off, an inquest at Boston Coroner’s Court was told.

Simon Coulson had been checking for his next fare when he looked up and saw Ms Lord, who was carrying a handbag and a shopping bag and using a walking stick, fall.


In a statement, he said: “She was actually tumbling backwards down the stairs. She landed at the bottom of the steps on her head.

“There was nobody else around at the time and I cannot see or think of any reason why she should fall backwards down those steps.”

Mr Coulson rushed to Ms Lord but she was unresponsive and he called emergency services.

He said paramedics arrived “very quickly”.

Ms Lord was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where a scan showed her to have suffered skull fractures and a “devastating and severe brain injury”.

There was evidence of a possible epileptic seizure. Attempts to stabilise her condition had no effect and it was decided that her treatment should be switched to compassionate end of life care.

She died on April 14 last year, two days after the fall.

Mr Coulson had picked up Ms Lord from the White Hart Hotel in Bailgate at about 6.45pm and described her as a “chatty, pleasant lady”. He could not smell alcohol on her.

Her GP said she had a history of epilepsy and was prone to seizures.

In a written statement, he said: “She was a vulnerable lady who tried her best to cope.

"I thought her accommodation was not suitable for her but she was quite adamant that she would not go into care home and wanted to stay in her flat with the help of carers.”

Senior coroner for Lincolnshire, Tim Brennand , said: “This is a very sad case indeed.

"A lady with pre-existing epileptic condition attempting to retain her dignity and her independence.”


He said the problem he had was deciding whether there was an accidental fall or a potential epileptic seizure.

Given the evidence, he gave a narrative conclusion: “Jean Lord died as a consequence of injuries sustained in a fall as a consequence of a presumed epileptic seizure.”

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 GTR MANCHESTER
 
Taxi drivers will be required to put CCTV cameras in their cabs to prevent sex assaults.

The move is part of a Government clampdown which includes tougher criminal record checks and a national database to stop drivers operating outside the area of their licence.

The measures follow an official review after sex abuse scandals in Rotherham, S Yorks and Rochdale, Gtr Manchester.

Rochdale licensing officers said drivers were working there using licences from neighbouring Rossendale.

Rossendale has 75 taxi rank spaces yet last year it licensed 3,700 drivers.

Many had criminal convictions in areas such as York, Milton Keynes and Manchester.

It has also been revealed that Birmingham council gave licences to convicted drug dealers, child abusers and burglars.

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A Wigan cabbie had a lucky escape after being sent flying by a cyclist riding illegally on the pavement.

The badly shaken taxi driver, who would only give his first name as Trevor, was coming out of the Crusader Taxis office in King Street when the headphone-wearing rider crashed into him as he rode at speed along the path.

Luckily, Trevor, 44, was unharmed in the incident which he said could have been much worse.

Other cabbies at the rank took to social media to share CCTV footage of the incident, which happened at around 10am in the morning.

Trevor, who has been a driver with Crusader Taxis since last September, said: “I was walking to my cab to go out on a job when this lad came speeding down the path and I ended up on my backside. I was so shocked I was late picking up a customer.

“He was apologetic, but when he got off his bike he was more concerned about picking up his lights which came off.

“So much money has been spent on cycle lanes in the area, so there is absolutely no excuse for him being on the pavement.

“Anybody could have come out of the doorway, and God forbid it was an older couple as the damage would have been far worse.”

Hossein Ghorbani, the owner of Crusader Taxis, said: “It could’ve been much worse.

“He only came to the office to drop some bits off, and when he came out the cyclist hit him.

“The guy shouldn’t have been on there in the first place. It is dangerous, and if that was a child it would have been 10 times worse.”

The law states that cyclists must not cycle on the pavement even when there are no specific lanes.

Cyclists can use bus lanes when permitted to by road signs.

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