An 84-year-old woman who accidentally ran over her husband outside a supermarket drove at him "like a joyrider", an inquest heard.
Alexander Neill, 80, of Bridge Road, Ickford, near Thame, was knocked down and killed by his wife, Bertha Neill, in the car park at Budgens in Thame in April.
Witnesses told the inquest in Oxford they watched in horror as Bertha Neill slammed into the retired farmer as he tried to guide her out of a parking bay.
James Thomas, of Hilltop, Long Crendon, said Mrs Neill struck her husband at very high speed. He said: "She came out like a joyrider. The wheels were spinning and there was a lot of smoke. The car shot forward and ran into the man. She hit him with the front of the car and obviously hit another car alongside, and that's what stopped her. There was a screeching of tyres as though she had got her foot stuck." In a statement read out to the inquest, Mrs Neill, from Bridge Road, Ickford, said her husband had got out of the car to help her leave the tight parking space. But she claimed she had been reversing the car.
She said: "He had deliberately gone to help me get out of the space. I checked behind me and couldn't see anything in my way. I drove backwards very slowly but as I drove backwards I heard a bump. I thought it might be a bollard. I didn't realise it was Alex."She added: "Alex was never miserable, and on the morning of the accident he was in good spirits. He was always a happy man."
William Jones, from Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, who saw the accident, said: "I did notice an elderly gentleman standing in front looking like he was inspecting or looking for something. He was facing to the left and was in front of the car. At the same instant someone started the engine. It revved up as if there was someone panicking and there was smoke coming from the back tyres. "Then the elderly gentleman was obviously hit because he fell to the ground. He was very, very quiet. It all happened in a couple of seconds."
Dr Andrew Farmer, of Thame Health Centre, said Mr Neill had become increasingly immobile with very poor eye sight. He died of multiple injuries as a result of the accident.
Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
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