Cumbria PoliceA decorated ex-RAF fighter pilot took his own life and killed four others, including two children, after driving the wrong way along a motorway and deliberately head-on into another car.
An inquest heard Richard John Woods, 40, was almost four times the legal drink-drive limit when his southbound blue Skoda Fabia ploughed into a Toyota Yaris on the M6 northbound carriageway in Cumbria just after 4pm on October 15 last year.
A third-full bottle of gin was found in Woods’ crashed Skoda, while a fireball engulfed the Glasgow-bound Toyota, with four of its five occupants pronounced dead at the scene.
Toyota driver Jaroslaw Rossa, aged 42, died along with two of his children, 15-year-old Filip and seven-year-old Dominic.
Mr Rossa’s partner, Jade McEnroe, aged 33, also lost her life, although miraculously, her son Arran, also seven, survived the tragedy.
Cockermouth Coroners’ Court heard on Thursday how Hexham-born Woods had become a flight lieutenant and then squadron leader during a distinguished 14-year RAF career as a fast jet pilot.
He toured Afghanistan twice, completed three tours of Iraq and left the RAF in 2019, later working for BAE Systems, based at Marham in Norfolk, as a lead contractor instructor pilot.
The inquest heard he had a history of anxiety and detrimental alcohol use, for which he latterly received professional help. He told a counsellor of his previous fighter jet work: “I dropped bombs. It was just a job.”
That counsellor formed the view he wanted to improve his life and get back on track.
On October 14, Woods, of Cambridgeshire, travelled to Ribby Hall Village, near Preston, for a flight safety conference, staying overnight in a hotel. At the conference the following day, he fell asleep during morning lectures. Others were concerned he might be under the influence of alcohol.
Woods failed to show for the afternoon session and headed north on the M6.
At around 3.30pm, eyewitnesses initially saw his Skoda travelling northbound.
According to one witness, it was drifting between all three lanes, travelling erratically, unsafely and dangerously.
“We were terrified as to what was going to happen,” she later told police. He looked “like he was either drunk or on drugs”, “like he was zoned out, in his own bubble”.
Woods pulled onto the hard shoulder before making a sudden U-turn across the northbound carriageway and into lane three, heading south in a straight line for more than a mile.
There was one incredible near-miss with a vehicle, a witness recalled a “blue blur”, and reflecting: “How I managed to avoid this vehicle was unbelievable.”
Woods travelled on, neither braking nor taking any evasive action as he collided with the Yaris head-on. One motorist recalled a “loud explosion” and “debris raining down from above”.
“The driver of the (Yaris) had no time to react,” a witness reported.
As the Yaris flipped on to its side and was engulfed in flames, bystanders rushed to try and help, along with the emergency services.
The Skoda’s speedometer was frozen on 65mph, and could have been travelling at 70 or possibly more at the point of impact, police found.
Woods dies from multiple injuries. Analysis of his mobile phone revealed 26 prior searches covering suicide and suicide of military personnel overseas.
Det Sergt Deb Story of Cumbria Police’s serious collision investigation unit concluded after considering all evidence that Woods wanted to end his life while intoxicated and, in doing so, killed and injured others.
“I would say that it was a deliberate act,” DS Story told the hearing, adding. “Had Mr Woods survived, I would have presented the case seeking a charge of manslaughter.”
Assistant Cumbria coroner, Ms Margaret Taylor, recorded a conclusion of suicide and called the incident a “catastrophe”.
Ms Taylor said: “The only thing I can do at this stage is to express my condolences to the family for the tragedy that has ensued, but also to remember those who were also involved as collateral to this tragic event.”
In a statement to the inquest, Woods’ father, Keith said: “Richard was a decent, honourable man, modest and kind towards others; just a troubled soul who lost his way.”
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