A teenage girl who zig-zagged a buggy across a field to ‘scare’ her friend died suddenly after flipping the vehicle on her farm, an inquest has heard.
Iris Goldsmith, daughter of financier Ben Goldsmith, became trapped under the all-terrain buggy when she was driving on her family’s farm with a friend on their way to ride horses on July 8, 2019.
The 15-year-old sharply turned the Polaris six-seater buggy as they crossed the field of the 120 acre estate.
The friend of Miss Goldsmith provided a statement to the inquest this week which confirmed Iris was very experienced at using the buggy.
The pair had been on their way to a neighbouring farm to meet a friend to go horse riding and were not wearing seat belts, the statement said.
The accident occurred after the duo had travelled to the Goldsmith family farm in North Brewham, near Bruton from London during their summer holiday.
At court in Taunton this week the statement continued: “Iris drove onto the field and began zigzagging across it. She’s done this in the past to try and scare me.
“Iris suddenly turned sharply to the right, causing the vehicle to flip.”
Miss Goldsmith was thrown from the vehicle and the roof of the Polaris fell onto her neck, according to Somerset Live.
Her friend was not thrown from the cab and only sustained minor injuries - she described trying to free Miss Goldsmith from under the heavy cab of the vehicle and calling the emergency services.
She called out for staff members on to the farm to help and with others eventually removed Miss Goldsmith from under the roof of the overturned Polaris.
An air ambulance arrived and paramedics attended to Miss Goldsmith for an hour, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Senior Coroner Tony Williams read a statement from Miss Goldsmith’s financier father, in which he described his daughter as a “force of nature” and detailed how he had given her lessons in driving the Polaris on their private land from the age of eight.
His statement read: “She would not have been allowed to drive by herself until I was comfortable and trusted she could do it competently and safely.”
Mr Goldsmith also added that he was not aware anyone on the farm used seat belts while driving the Polaris and that while there were cab nets on the vehicle when it was purchased in 2010, these were removed.
His statement concluded: “It feels what happened to my daughter was an amalgamation of bad luck.
“The [Polaris] was not being used by anyone, which was unusual. The ground was very hard after a two-month dry spell, which may have made the wheels skid.
“Iris may have decided to get out of the vehicle as it rolled - maybe if she had just held on inside she wouldn’t have been killed.
“The way the vehicle fell on her was unlucky and there was no one around her that could help.
“All of these things are unlucky, but added together they are unbelievably unfair.”
Avon and Somerset Police forensic collision investigator Sharon Little conducted an investigation at the scene and confirmed that the front seat belts of the Polaris were “operational” in a statement read to the court.
PC Little’s report also noted that the front brake pads were found to be low and the tyres were under-inflated.
The report’s conclusion read: “Vehicle examination results tell us that the vehicle had faults that made it unstable, especially with increased steering.
“I have concluded that it was a combination of the sharp right turn, the vehicle’s faults and the safety equipment not being used that culminated in the tragic consequences of this incident.”
The coroner echoed these points in his concluding statements, saying: “The various defects to the Polaris in isolation would not have caused the vehicle to overturn.
“It was Iris’s driving that caused this and the defects contributed to the instability of the vehicle. Iris was simply having fun with her friend when this tragic incident occurred.”
The post mortem report from Dr Cooper of Yeovil District Hospital recorded the cause of death as pressure to the neck and stated Miss Goldsmith had a clear toxicology report.
The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death.
