Driver took her own life after killing girl, inquest will be told

THE death of a woman, who was struck by several cars after learning she was being sued for accidentally killing a schoolgirl on an Aberdeenshire road, is to be investigated by a coroner’s court in England.

Gillian Ancell, 56, is feared to have taken her own life when she was killed in October last year on the busy dual-carriageway stretch of the A90 Ellon to Aberdeen road.

Mrs Ancell, who was said to have been suffering from depression, died days after being informed she was being sued for £300,000 by the family of 15-year-old Robyn Oldham, who had been knocked down and killed by Mrs Ancell’s car as she got off a school bus in Aberdeenshire in September 2008.

Mrs Ancell, a mother of three, lived in the nearby village of Newburgh, but her funeral service was held at Bedford, where her family stayed.

And yesterday, the South and West Cambridgeshire coroner’s office, which covers the Bedford area, confirmed that, in an unusual move, an inquest will be held in England into the death of Mrs Ancell.

A spokeswoman for the coroner, David Norris, confirmed: “There will be a coroner’s inquest into Mrs Ancell’s death.”

She added: “Her body was repatriated to England for her funeral to take place and, when a body comes back into England or Wales, the case has to be referred to the area coroner. Because she has died of unnatural causes, we have a statutory duty to hold an investigation into the death.

“The purpose of the inquest is to ascertain who died, when they died, where they died and how they died.

“It is an inquisitorial court, so we don’t apportion blame.”

Mrs Ancell, a domestic supervisor for the NHS, died on 27 October. Three days before her death, she had received court papers informing her of the date of a hearing at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, following the decision of Robyn’s mother to raise a civil action against her.

Mrs Ancell faced no criminal charges and a fatal accident inquiry at Banff Sheriff Court was told she had been driving at the 50mph limit when Robyn, a pupil at Turriff Academy, stepped out from the back of the school bus on which she had been a passenger.

Mrs Ancell told the court she had slammed on her brakes and sounded her horn, and after the collision administered CPR to Robyn.

Speaking last year, Mrs Ancell said the accident had turned her life “upside down” and she had been suffering from depression and vivid flashbacks.

She said: “When I found out Robyn had died, I just didn’t want to live.

“I just kept asking why it couldn’t have happened to me,” she added, “especially when I found out Robyn was only 15 – it’s so unfair.”