A WOMAN died after the garage courtesy car she was driving crashed because it had four faulty tyres, Wirral Coroner's Court heard.

Ian and Maxine Kendrick, from Greasby, had a Volvo 760 car which they put in for repair at Central Engine and Turbo Services, Ellesmere Port. The garage lent them a Nissan Bluebird which they had been given on a previous occasion.

Mrs Kendrick, 44, was driving the Nissan on Telegraph Road, Thurstaston, on January 5, when she seemed to lose control and hit a Peugeot van on the opposite carriageway heading towards Heswall.

Mrs Kendrick, who was not wearing a seat-belt, was cut out of her car by the fire brigade and rushed to Arrowe Park Hospital. Doctors pronounced her dead on arrival and a post mortem revealed she had died from multiple injuries: the impact had broken four of her ribs and caused damage to her heart, lungs, liver, stomach and spleen.

Traffic officer PC Michael Scott examined the vehicle after the crash and found that all four tyres were under-inflated, one because it had a nail in it, and had insufficient tread.

He said that the thickest tread depth on one of the tyres was half that of the legal requirement and that another had a pressure reading of 10psi as opposed to the recommended pressure of 26psi on a rear tyre. PC Scott also pointed out that the H-registration car had travelled 163,282 miles.

Investigator PC James Keenan told the court that the road conditions were wet and that the Nissan was probably travelling at about 50 mph. He said that the state of the tyres would have caused problems controlling the car in wet weather.

Garage manager David Mealing, of Hermitage Road, Saughall, and foreman Mark Charlton, of Wheatlands Close, Neston, were both convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice at Liverpool Crown Court last month, after they had tried to convince police that the car did not belong to the garage. Mealing was jailed for three years and Charlton for two.

After recording a verdict of accidental death, Wirral Coroner Christopher Johnson said: "It is clear that this vehicle should not have been on the road. The ownership was subject to a police investigation and two men have been imprisoned. They will have to live with their consciences."

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