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Leeds crash police detective who died at wheel had bad heart
A LONG-SERVING West Yorkshire detective suffered fatal car-crash injuries after falling ill at the wheel, an inquest heard.
Leeds Coroner's Court was told that Graham Mackay was driving along Park Lane, Methley, when his car left the road and hit a tree.
He died at the scene
A post-mortem examination showed the 47-year-old, a detective constable based in Wakefield, had an enlarged heart, hardened arteries and a fatty liver.
Consultant pathologist Lisa Barker said Mr Mackay's health problems, which had gone undetected, would have put him at permanent risk of a heart attack.
Recording a verdict of accidental death, Leeds Coroner David Hinchliff said Mr Mackay had suffered severe gastric pains in the run-up to his death – pains the officer had explained away as heartburn or indigestion.
But Mr Hinchliff said: "I suspect those pains were cardiac in nature and when Graham was driving he suffered a sort of heart episode."
Traffic constable Steven Ashley, who led the inquiry into Mr Mackay's death, told the hearing: "It is my opinion that Graham had undergone some sort of medical problem while driving."
By coincidence, two off-duty police officers saw Mr Mackay's driving minutes before his death.
One of them, traffic officer Christopher Worsnop, said Mr Mackay appeared to be staring straight ahead, but appeared to be distracted.
"It was like he was there in body but not in mind."
The inquest was told Mr Mackay was not wearing a seatbelt, but would have been unlikely to have survived even if he had been.
Mr Mackay, formerly of Fairway Avenue, Normanton, first served the force as a beat constable in Gipton, Leeds; Castleford, Normanton and Knottingley.
The grandfather-of-one joined the CID in 1992, completing a spell with the drug squad before joining the Wakefield-based crime training unit in 2005.
His son had become a skilled rugby league player, and had been selected to travel to Australia to represent Great Britain under-18s.
Mr Mackay's widow, Gail, said she and her husband had been planning a special trip to watch their son's games and to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary.
She told the inquest: "This was the first time Graham had been able to look forward to making plans for us.
"There were only two things in his life, his family and his work, and he had always been totally attached to both."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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