A RETIRED professor of chemistry died after his wife made an error of judgement which caused a crash on the A338, an inquest heard.

Charles Fowler Cullis, aged 95, was a passenger of a Volkswagen Golf, driven by his wife Marjorie, when the car crashed into a Volkswagen Polo on April 26 last year.

The couple, of Homington Road, Coombe Bissett, were attempting to enter the road, heading towards Salisbury, from the Bodenham junction at about 5.50pm.

Seconds later the car collided with the Polo driven by student Amelia Chamberlain.

The inquest, at Salisbury coroner’s court on Thursday, heard that Miss Chamberlain had seen the Golf as it entered the lane in which she was travelling.

In a statement she said: “I immediately put my breaks on to avoid colliding with the Golf.”

She added that despite taking action there “simply wasn’t enough time” and the passenger side of her car collided with the driver’s side of the Golf.

At the time of the crash, witness Bethany Nolan said no one involved was complaining of being in pain but Mr Cullis was taken to Salisbury District Hospital.

PC Richard Adlam, who attended the hospital, added that doctors said Mr Cullis was “imminently going to die from his injuries”.

Mr Cullis was pronounced dead at 6.27pm on April 28.

A post mortem examination found that he died of respiratory failure, traumatic fractured ribs and lung contusion as a result of the crash.

Collision investigator PC Lucy Fair determined that the Golf pulled into the path of the Polo.

“Mrs Cullis was familiar with the junction and the journey that day having made the journey before,” PC Fair said.

“The collision was caused by the driver of the Volkswagen Golf making an error of judgement in the safety of the manoeuvre that she was trying to complete.”

She added that Mrs Cullis may have failed to see the Polo or misjudged its speed or position correctly.

The inquest heard that Mrs Cullis has been involved in another collision since the fatal crash.

Coroner David Ridley concluded that Mr Cullis died as a result of the collision but added that his frailty would have to added to his demise.