Beauty queen Eleisha Skinner crushed to death by car as she unloaded boot

A 21-year-old beauty queen was crushed to death by her car as she unloaded the boot on an icy driveway as she returned to university after the Christmas break, an inquest was told. Eleisha Skinner had returned to student accommodation in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, on January 4, amid freezing conditions where temperatures fell to around -2C.

On Tuesday (June 23), Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court heard the former Miss Faversham was unloading her belongings from the back of her Audi A1 when the car slipped down the driveway and crushed her against her home’s wall. A 999 call at 10.52pm revealed 999 dispatchers were called by the struggling Eleisha, who said: “Help me, I’ve been squished.”

When the call handler asked which service was required, she responded “all of them”.

Another tenant of her seven-bed HMO made a 999 call minutes later, after he reported hearing a loud bang and a woman screaming before shouting “get off, get off”, the court heard. By the time he went outside just minutes later, Eleisha was already unconscious.

Police arrived at 10.56pm to find an unresponsive Eleisha pinned between the rear bumper of her Audi and the front wall of her house. A sudden drop at the end of the driveway meant the rear tyres of the Audi were suspended in the air over the ledge, while Eleisha was pinned to the wall, unable to breathe.

Battling slippery conditions, officers used a tow rope to pull the car back up the driveway, which had an incline of 20 to 25 degrees.

Eleisha, who was studying social care at Buckinghamshire New University, was rushed to the major trauma centre at John Radcliffe Hospital by air ambulance, where she was intubated. Her condition deteriorated and a CT scan on January 6 revealed she had suffered from a hypoxic brain injury – when the brain is deprived of an adequate amount of oxygen.

On January 8, she had a brain scan where doctors tragically declared her to be brain dead.

In a statement read out to the court by senior coroner Crispin Butler, Eleisha’s mother Clare said she had last spoken to her daughter on the phone just minutes before the incident. She said: “Eleisha told me it looked like it had been snowing, I told her to get out and check the drive.

“Eleisha said it felt fine under foot, Eleisha said there was no space and she had lots to take in from the car. Eleisha reverse parked on the drive and said it feels normal under her wheels. We said the normal things we say to each other, love you and speak to you soon.”

Ms Skinner said she believed her daughter’s death was preventable. She added: “I strongly believe this situation could have been prevented, and that future risk assessments should be necessary for properties with high risk areas to prevent future loss of life.”

Landlords Howarth Property Ltd said they could not attend the inquest in person. However, in a letter from the couple’s company, they said: “We’d like to express directly to Clare Skinner and Eleisha’s family that we are deeply sorry for the loss of Eleisha. No statement can adequately reflect what the loss of a child means to a parent.”

Senior coroner Crispin Butler ruled Eleisha’s death an accident – saying it was likely that the vehicle, which had its handbrake applied, had slipped on the slippery driveway. The medical cause of death was given as anoxic brain injury due to asphyxiation from traumatic compression injury.

Issuing a prevention of future deaths report to the landlords, Mr Butler said he had identified three ‘key elements’: the layout of the driveway with no wall or barrier, the icy and slippery conditions on the drive, and the effect of gravity, given that Eleisha was unloading from her boot which was angled downhill.

The coroner said he was not satisfied "adequate measures" had been taken by the landlords following the incident – raising concerns that a barrier installed since the incident could pose another crush risk and that “another individual could die as a result.”

The coroner also called for proper instructions for safe usage of the driveway and adequate mitigation against the risk caused by slippery surfaces on the driveway. Thanking the family for attending, he said: “My best wishes to all of you as a family.”

A statement read out on behalf of Eleisha’s family said: “Eleisha was the kind of person who made the world brighter just being in it. Though her life was far too short, her impact was immense. Her love, laughter, and kindness will live on in all of us, we’ll carry her with us always, our beautiful Eleisha, forever loved, forever missed, and never forgotten.”

A fundraiser set up in Eleisha’s memory by her mother to raise money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance has since received more than £7,300 in donations.

Hundreds turned out to pay their respects to the former beauty and carnival queen at her funeral in February. She has since been honoured with a BSc by her university, where she was studying to become a carer.