British couple on holiday in Cumbria found dead in ditch after being followed by police

Ellie Marsden, 20, and Ryan Duffy, 24, both from Wigan, were found dead on a narrow country road in Cumbria having earlier been followed by police, an inquest heard. They had travelled to spend a night at a hotel in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, on September 4, 2021.

They arrived at the Appleby Castle Hotel and were checked in at around 10pm by duty manager James Usher. Mr Usher in a statement read to the inquest in Carlisle: “The man [Ryan] said something along the lines of ‘I just want to make her happy with a night away’. Both were friendly. They seemed in good spirits.”

The inquest was told how Ellie and Ryan went to Appleby’s Hare and Hounds pub, where they remained until just after 12.30am. A police officer on mobile patrol in a marked Ford Transit, close to the town centre pub, at Low Wiend, saw care assistant Ellie getting into the passenger seat of a white Citroen Berlingo van, which was then driven away by Ryan.

The officer decided to follow the van, which was seen to travel the wrong way along a one-way street. It then turned right on to Boroughgate. “The officer followed the van on to rural roads around Appleby,” assistant coroner Joseph Hart told the jury.

He said: “At times he seems to have lost sight of the van. You will hear about how the officer followed that vehicle on those rural roads. But at this stage you should be aware the officer didn’t illuminate his emergency blue lights. After a distance the officer ceased to follow that vehicle, and he thought the driver might in fact have been aware of his presence.”

The officer notified police force control of his observations regarding the Citroen van. He returned to Appleby and later pulled over a similar van in the town centre which proved not to be the Citroen he had originally spotted.

Hours later, at around 7.40am, a married couple travelling along the narrow single carriageway C3057 road — around three miles south-east of the village of Kings Meaburn — came across a crashed van. Inside were the bodies of Ellie and Ryan.

Moving tributes to Ellie and Ryan were read to jurors by their mothers. Karen Duffy said of Ryan, who loved nature, camping, cycling, climbing, walking and angling. She said: “He was a larger than life character, always smiling and happy. He could light up a room with his infectious laugh”. The inquest continues as it is expected to last several days.