Driver had 'considerable time' to see e-scooter rider before fatal crash

BUT MAN HAD BEEN RIDING ILLEGALLY AND WITHOUT A HELMET

- By JOEL MOORE

Scott Catton died after a car driver opened her door in front of him as he rode an e-scooter

A DRIVER had a “considerable amount of time” to spot a Nottingham e-scooter rider before opening the car door that killed him, an inquest has heard.

Scott Catton suffered a “devastating” head injury when he collided with the door of a parked Mercedes in Ridgeway, Top Valley on the evening of June 5.

Two days later, his family had to make the tragic decision to switch off the 54-year-old’s life support machine two days before he was due to tie the knot with his long-term partner.

Lauren Bardill, the woman who opened the door, was fined £160 after admitting to causing Mr Catton’s death in court earlier this year, after being charged with the rarely prosecuted offence of “opening the door of a vehicle so as to injure or endanger a person”.

A coroner issued a warning in the wake of the tragedy, calling for the government to take steps which would require e-scooter riders to wear helmets.

An inquest into Mr Catton’s death, held yesterday, heard Bardill had “considerable amount of time” to spot the e-scooter-riding dad as the 31-year-old mum got out the car outside her home at around 7.10pm.