>>A man from Romford who died following an accident in which his car overturned when it hit a railing on a pavement, died as the result of an accident an inquest found.

Michael Shannon, 53, of Repton Avenue, Gidea Park, died on October 24 2010 at Queen’s Hospital, in Romford, four days after the crash in Station Road, Chadwell Heath, Walthamstow Coroner’s Court heard on Friday, July 8.

Mr Shannon’s family agreed for the tubes supporting him to be removed after being told he faced “significant brain injury” if he pulled through which itself was “very unlikely”.

The black Lexus Mr Shannon was driving mounted the kerb, hit a pedestrian railing and overturned onto its roof.

Maurice Clarke, a witness who helped at the scene, told the inquest: “I heard a car over-rev and when I turned round I saw the car already on its way up the railing.”

“He tried to communicate. He was breathing harshly. He was still in his seatbelt. Obviously he was alive but he wasn’t able to talk to us.”

Another witness, Tehmoor Baig, said he saw Mr Shannon’s car mount a kerb to overtake a white van and said it was “due to his speed” he lost control of the car but Coroner Chinyere Inyama, referring to the collision investigation officer’s report, said there was “no technical evidence to support that”.

Mr Shannon’s wife, Patricia, said: “He was one of the safest drivers you could possibly ask for. There was even a family joke that he was one of the slowest drivers. He certainly wasn’t a risk taker on the road.”

Paramedics arrived at the scene minutes after and administered CPR before taking him to A&E at Queen’s Hospital where he had a CT scan to check for damage to the head, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis but no obvious injuries were found, the coroner told the inquest reading a statement from Emergency Medicine Consultant, Dr Maroju.

He had a fractured rib and some internal fluid in his face and was kept in a neck brace as a precaution and taken to intensive care.

It was in the following days Mr Shannon’s condition deteriorated and a second CT scan on October 24 showed he was suffering from hypoxic brain injury.

A statement read out from Consultant Anaethesthetist Dr Igielman said: “Recovery was very unlikely. Even if he recovered there would have been significant brain injury.”

He was extubated and pronounced dead at 5.30pm.

Mr Shannon, a chartered surveyor, had been swimming with his wife, a nurse, and been making jokes when dropping her to work the morning of the day he crashed.

His wife Patricia, who thanked everyone who was there for him at the time, said: “He was my soul mate and I’ve lost him.”