A FATHER-OF-TWO died after his car was sliced in half by a high speed crash while almost three times over the drink drive limit, an inquest has heard.
Andrew Sprowson – a renowned orthopaedic surgeon and trauma consultant – was travelling to Birmingham Airport in the early hours of March 13 when his BMW came off the road and crashed into a tree on the A46.
The 40-year-old, who worked at University Hospital and was an associate professor at Warwick Medical School, was confirmed dead at the scene by emergency services.
The inquest into the 40-year-old’s death heard how the car hit with such force that the tree was uprooted from the impact and an engine block was thrown ten metres from the crash site close to the junction with the A452.
A section from the front tyre also ended up almost 100 metres down the road as a result of the smash.
A post-mortem investigation found Mr Sprowson, who lived in Kenilworth, was almost three times over the legal drink drive limit.
At the time of his death, Mr Sprowson was travelling to Glasgow to attend a medical conference and the court was told how the airbags of the vehicle had deployed on impact but the car received the full force of the crash, in which no other vehicles were involved.
A report by Warwickshire Police Crash Investigating officer PC Grant Dumbleton confirmed the weather was overcast with heavy rain falling but he maintained this was not enough to distract a careful driver from veering off course.
Returning a verdict of death by road traffic collision, coroner Sean McGovern said: “Mr Sprowson’s blood alcohol level was two and a half times the legal driving limit. He lost control and the force of the impact was such that his car was split in two.
“All of these factors indicate the BMW was travelling at very high speed. His intoxication and possible tiredness contributed to him losing control of his vehicle.
“My thoughts go to his family. I met Mr Sprowson on one occasion and found him to be very charming.”
