A 15-year-old boy died after crashing into an ambulance while riding an e-bike, an inquest has heard. Saul Cookson had been riding the electric bike on June 8, 2023, when he collided with an ambulance travelling down Langworthy Road in Salford.
Saul had been followed by police in a marked car shortly before the crash, an inquest that opened today (January 6) at Bolton Coroner’s Court heard. He drove the bike through a set of bollards, which the police car couldn’t pass, moments before crashing into the oncoming ambulance.
The ambulance crew and police officers in the car immediately rushed to Saul’s aid, the court heard. He was taken to Salford Royal Hospital but was declared dead at 2.36pm.
In a written statement Saul’s mum, Emma Frendo, paid tribute to ‘a doting and generous son’, who would save to buy gifts for her birthday and mother’s day. Reading out her statement, coroner Mike Pemberton said: “You felt very lucky to have such an amazing relationship with him. Every year they [Saul and his dad] went to watch a football match on Boxing Day. That was ‘lad and dad’ time. Saul was very protective of his younger siblings.
“After he passed away you were overwhelmed to find out how many people knew and loved him. He would always say hello. There were hundreds of people who came to his funeral.
Saul’s death sparked an outpouring of grief frrom the community
(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
“You will miss and love Saul always, and that goes for other members of the family as well.” He continued: “He wanted to go on and attend college and get himself a trade, and was due to go to college for an interview.”
The family had also brought photos of Saul, placed in view of the jury and the coroner, with Mr Pemberton telling the family he would keep the photos on his bench in court to ‘keep Saul in his mind’ throughout the inquest.
Ambulance being driven at ‘normal speed’
The hearing heard Saul had cut through the bollards when he collided with the ambulance, which was being driven by paramedic Laura Jones, who had been on shift with fellow paramedic Aaron Fitzpatrick and student paramedic Olivia Green. A statement from Ms Green read to the court said that the crew had quickly rushed to help Saul after the collision, being joined quickly by a police officer who began doing chest compressions.
In her statement read to the court by Mr Pemberton, Ms Green said: “They were doing normal road speed, which was about 30mph.” Ms Green had been sitting in the back of the ambulance, and described feeling “something hit them but she couldn’t see.”
Saul Cookson
(Image: PA)
The hearing heard a statement from eyewitness Shaidur Rahman, a postman, who said he believed that the ambulance had “seemed to be going quite slowly” and that the e-bike had been going “quite fast”, adding: “He [Saul] didn’t even think or contemplate that the ambulance would have been there.”
The court was shown dashcam footage from the police car, CCTV footage collected from the surrounding area, and footage from a camera on the ambulance. These showed Saul taking the e-bike through the bollards before the collision, and show that he hit the front right side of the ambulance and was thrown from the e-bike.
Saul’s death saw tributes pouring in, with dozens of tributes including flowers, banners, and notes being left at the site of the crash. The inquest heard that ‘hundreds’ of people attended Saul’s funeral, which saw Father Frankie Mulgrew riding in the cortège on the back of an electric bike as he blessed mourners.
Giving medical evidence in court, consultant histopathologist Dr Usha Chandran initially gave a provisional cause of death as 1A – traumatic injuries, and 2 – cannabis, with the latter an underlying factor. However, Dr Chandran told the court that the level of cannabis found in Saul’s body was below the UK legal limit to operate a motor vehicle.
And, after evidence from Saul’s mum – who said her son had smoked it ‘a lot’ but that she ‘didn’t like him doing it’ – and discussion with Mr Pemberton, Dr Chandran revised the provisional cause of death to just 1A – traumatic injuries.
Tributes left to Saul at the site of the crash
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The inquest also heard that police officer Steven Pennington, who works with the Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU), found a quantity of cannabis on Saul at the time of his death. PC Pennington told the court: “I searched the right hand side and and found a bag containing individual wraps of a green substance which was cannabis.”
The week-long inquest before a jury continues.