Inquest jury out over couple found dead in van

The jury at an inquest trying to establish how a young couple died on a rural road in Cumbria has retired to consider its conclusions.

Ryan Duffy, 24, and Ellie Marsden, 20, from Greater Manchester, were found dead in their crashed van near Drybeck in September 2021.

The hearing was told they had been followed by a police car for several miles beforehand, but may have been unaware of the fact.

Giving legal directions, the coroner told jurors it was not a trial, but a fact-finding inquiry to find out how and in what circumstances they had died.

The inquest has previously heard the couple had booked into a hotel at Appleby Castle on the night of Friday, 4 September and then spent some time in a pub.

Just after midnight, they got into a white Citroen Berlingo van which was spotted going the wrong way along a one-way street by a police officer on mobile patrol.

The PC repeatedly drove above speed limits in Appleby and then rural roads as he attempted to follow, the inquest jury heard.

A standard response driver, he was trained to stop vehicles but not to pursue them, and did not activate emergency blue lights or sirens during a four-minute journey, the hearing was told.

Still not having caught up with the van, he logged the vehicle's registration and make and returned to Appleby.

The next morning, the Berlingo was found crashed into a tree about 173m (567ft) beyond where the PC had turned back, the jurors heard.

Mr Duffy, who was in the driving seat, and Ms Marsden were pronounced dead at the scene. Neither were wearing seatbelts.

Giving evidence, the police officer repeatedly denied suggestions he was involved in a pursuit of the van.

He told the inquest he was "not certain" whether the van driver was aware of him, but his presence might have been a distraction for the van driver.

A senior police forensic examiner concluded that at the time of the crash the van was travelling at about 40mph, which was under the national speed limit for that stretch of road.

Steering marks on the road suggested the driver may have misjudged a bend on which the collision occurred due to being impaired in some way, or distracted, or both.

Toxicology tests showed the amount of alcohol in Mr Duffy's bloodstream was between two and three times the legal driving limit, and the couple had taken both cocaine and ketamine.

Assistant coroner Joseph Hart told jurors they must not speculate or guess and put aside sympathy and any disapproval.

They were to answer four key questions: who the deceased were; when, where and how they died.

He said: "Your duty is to find the facts and a conclusion from the evidence and only from the evidence.

"Adopt a cool, clinical and, above all, independent approach."

Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.