David Prangnell

David Prangnell died in a car crash on the A1 on 5 November 1963.

He had been hitch-hiking on the Great North Road when he got a lift in a car which went on to hit a lorry head on minutes later.

David Prangnell had been a medical student and had lived at 115 Loampit Vale in Lewisham.

He was picked up by some other medical students who stopped to pick him up when they saw that he had been wearing a King's College scarf.

The driver of the car, a 21-year-old  medical student, also from Kings College, that had lived in Westbrooke Avenue in West Hartlepool had hired the car in Hartlepool and along with his brother and another medical student, and had been returning from a trip to London.

When they saw David Prangnell with his scarf just outside of Newark they stopped to pick him up and seconds later collided with a coal lorry whilst they were both trying to overtake.

At the inquest, the driver's brother said:

He went on to say that his brother decided not to pull back, but accelerated to try and get through. However, he added that at the last moment he was forced to brake heavily.

The driver of the coal lorry that the car collided with had lived in Barnby Crossing, Newark.

He said that after making sure the road was clear he pulled out to overtake a tractor and trailer. He said:

He reiterated that when he had pulled out that it was quite safe and that the only thing he saw was a lorry nearer Newark.

When the Coroner summed up he said that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a verdict of manslaughter, but stated that they might decide that there was negligence on someone’s part.

The jury then returned an open verdict.