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Coroner’s praise for young pals

Emilene Coventry
23/ 1/2008

TWO teenagers have been praised by a coroner for helping a man with serious head injuries they found lying in the road.

Andrew Threadgold later died in hospital from his injuries, an inquest heard.

Pals Dayle Allen, 19, and Danny Arrowsmith, 17, found the 63-year-old engineer near his home on Brunswick Street at around 12.30am on 5 June last year after walking home after band practice.

Rushing to his side, they found him lying in a pool of blood and struggling to speak. They immediately called an ambulance.

They told how, while waiting for paramedics to arrive, a man in his 30s driving a 4x4 stopped to ask if Mr Threadgold was all right and told them he had telephoned police.

Mr Threadgold was taken to hospital but never regained full consciousness and died on 15 June.

Coroner John Pollard said to Dayle and Danny: "Thank you both for what you did. Young men of your age get a lot of bad press and the fact that the two of you bothered to stop and help is very commendable."

The court heard that Mr Threadgold had been making his way home after celebrating at a darts and dominoes presentation at Dukinfield Town Hall. He was a popular fixture in the team at the Old Regular pub in Dukinfield.

His sister, Beryl Pemberton, said: "They were brilliant, it’s a credit to their upbringing," she said.

Danny and Dayle said they first believed the injured man had been hit with a bottle.

Detective Inspector Jon Chadwick, who also praised the pair’s actions, said they found no suspicious circumstances surrounding Mr Threadgold’s death.

Mr Threadgold suffered brain damage and a fractured skull, probably as a result of falling heavily onto the road, said pathologist Dr Philip Lumb.

Speaking after the inquest, Dayle and Danny said they did what anyone would have done in the same situation.

"At first we just thought he was drunk so we thought we’d better stop and check," said Danny, of Romney Street, Ashton. "But we were shocked to see the blood."

Dayle, of Tennyson Avenue, Ashton added: "I never thought about any danger at the time. We just thought he needed help." Verdict: accidental death

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