Coroner issues Safety Report on London junction where pedestrian suffered fatal injury

On 11 September 2022, Terence Gillard was crossing the Great West Road in Hounslow in West London when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle. He was taken to hospital and died of his injuries one week later. Although the location of his death is marked as a crossing point, there are no pedestrian lights and members of the public using it are required to judge when it is safe to cross a three-lane carriageway on the major A-road.

At the inquest on 30 September 2024, HM Assistant Coroner Dr Jeane Rosa Mellani received evidence from the investigating police officers, the driver, eyewitnesses to the collision, and Penny Rees, the Head of Network Sponsorship at Transport for London. In her evidence, and under questioning, Ms Rees set out TfL’s plans to redevelop the junction to install safer ‘green man’ pedestrian crossings. The crossing point, which in the three years to 2023 saw 18 pedestrian injuries (including the death of Mr Gillard and six life-changing injuries), was not judged sufficiently dangerous to qualify as a priority for redevelopment work. Nevertheless, TfL agreed to place it into its improvement programme after a lengthy campaign by Mr Gillard’s family which included raising a formal petition to Parliament in March 2023 and organising a local petition with over 700 signatures.

After hearing the evidence, the coroner identified an ongoing public safety risk at the junction and decided to issue a preventing future deaths report (under paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 to the Coroners and Justice Act 2009) to TfL, the London Borough of Hounslow and the Department for Transport. She also indicated that she would issue a second report, in respect of interim safety measures (until the redevelopment takes place in late 2026), unless TfL confirms action has been taken within four weeks.

Mr Gillard’s family were represented at the inquest by William Dean, instructed by Anne Sanders, Partner of Hodge Jones & Allen Solicitors Ltd.