New Forest: Inquest into death of Janet Purkess adjourned

Janet Purkess, 87, decided to go ashore after Saga Sapphire docked at Bridgetown and was walking along the quayside when she was hit by a lorry.

Mrs Purkess, of Gosport Lane, Lyndhurst, suffered serious injuries in the collision and died at the scene.

Mrs Purkess was hit by a lorry after the Saga Sapphire docked at Bridgetown, Barbados (Image: Martini archive)

The Portsmouth inquest heard that the driver, Anthony Walcott, is due to stand trial in June.

Members of Mrs Purkess's family had been expecting area coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp to announce her conclusion on Wednesday after sitting through two days of evidence.

But Mrs Rhodes-Kemp said that particular part of the process would have to wait until after the trial.

"I have to make sure my conclusion is not at odds with that of a criminal court," she said.

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Inquests are not normally held until the outcome of any criminal proceedings, but the coroner said the court case had already been adjourned eight times. She also cited the amount of time that had elapsed since Mrs Purkess died.

"We decided to proceed with the inquest, up to a point."

Citing the potential dangers of delaying the hearing Mrs Rhodes-Kemp added: "We might have lost more witnesses, and memories would have faded."

Saga Sapphire was on a 33-night Caribbean cruise in January 2020 when the accident happened (Image: Ken Deadman)

In a written statement read out by the coroner, Mr Walcott said his vehicle had a crane that was used to attach fuel lines to visiting ships.

He started reversing, having checked his rearview mirrors, and felt a bump.

He added: "I thought it was garbage that had fallen out of a skip and continued to reverse. As I cleared what I thought was garbage I saw a person lying in front of me."

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Mrs Purkess was killed after Saga Sapphire made an unscheduled stop at Bridgetown on January 25 2020.

The inquest heard that no security staff from the port were on hand to ensure the safety of any passengers who left the ship.

Commander David Dowridge, who helped investigate the tragedy, said security chiefs would have seen that the vessel was alongside but did not deploy the necessary staff.

Had they done so the accident might have been prevented, he said.

Commander Dowridge criticised what he described as a "lack of coordination" at the port. Mrs Rhodes-Kemp added: "There were a lot of troubling circumstances."

The inquest was adjourned until July.

In a statement issued after the hearing Mrs Purkess's family said: "Our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother was lost to us in the worst imaginable circumstances.

"Mum was a strong, independent and determined lady who would, and should, have been with us for a good number of years yet.

"Despite the horror of three years ago our abiding memory will always be that of a loving, compassionate, caring lady whose family was her life and whose generosity knew no bounds.

"The fact of the matter is that our mum should never have died, not on that day and not in those circumstances.

"The port authorities should have provided security personnel to look after disembarking passengers but they didn’t.

"Our mother should never have been allowed to disembark into such an unsafe environment."