Jamie Cantrill inquest: Yorkshire power station contractor, 29, died after being hit by speeding driver after leaving golf club dinner

Despite CCTV and witness evidence suggesting the Ibiza reached speeds of 56mph in a 40mph zone, police did not have enough evidence to charge driver James McGarry, 28, with causing death by dangerous driving.

Instead McGarry, who did not stop at the scene, tried to conceal the car under a tarpaulin and removed damaged parts after the collision, was charged with dangerous driving and sentenced to 16 months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court earlier this month.

The inquest held at Doncaster Coroner’s Court on Thursday, four years after the fatal incident, heard that Mr Cantrill, a scaffolding contractor at Ferrybridge power station, most likely slipped and fell into the path of the Ibiza while trying to cross the road.

Footage from the camera of a house near the Holiday Inn showed that Mr Cantrill, whose son was just six months old when he died, was in the carriageway for between one and three seconds and that McGarry was 27 metres away from him when he became visible as a hazard. A car being driven at the limit of 40mph would not have been able to avoid striking Mr Cantrill.

Mr Cantrill’s mother Jane and partner Tanya Wilkinson, whom he had known since primary school, both gave evidence to the hearing. They described him as popular and sporty, playing rugby, cricket, golf and football and having been part of Doncaster Rovers and Scunthorpe United youth teams. Around 400 people turned up at his funeral, including his old teachers.

Miss Wilkinson was looking after their baby and her daughter from a previous relationship while Mr Cantrill went to a function at Wheatley Golf Club with friends. They were in contact during the evening and he told her he was going home via Doncaster city centre, the last messages being exchanged shortly before midnight. She heard about the collision on a local Facebook group and went to the scene, fearing the worst.

The taxi driver who dropped Mr Cantrill off outside the Holiday Inn said that he did not seem drunk on the journey and was carrying rather than using his mobile phone before he crossed the road. He did not realise there had been a collision, but while turning his cab around, was overtaken by a white car at speed and then saw it go through a red light. He estimated its speed as around 60mph.

A woman dropping her friend off in Denaby saw the white Seat pass her in the direction of Doncaster being ‘driven erratically’ and observed that the driver nearly lost control on a bend. She said the car ‘flew by’ and could have been going at 80mph in a 40mph zone.

A further witness, Stephanie Clark, encountered the Ibiza in Conisbrough, and described how the driver ‘shot off fast’ from a set of lights ahead of her. She was the first on the scene of the collision and discovered Mr Cantrill’s body as well as a large debris field including white fibreglass car parts.