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Schoolboy, 11, killed in car crash after spider on mother’s hand ‘forced her to swerve onto wrong side of road’

Tristan Silver was killed when a spider dropped onto his mother’s car while she was driving
Tristan Silver was killed when a spider dropped onto his mother’s car while she was driving

A schoolboy was killed when a spider dropped onto his mother’s car while she was driving, an inquest has heard.

Tristan Silver, 11, was being taken to school by his mother Cloud Younger, 29, when their blue Subaru hit a 4x4 towing a trailer of sheep.

An inquest was read a statement from Mrs Younger who said the spider landed on her left hand as she drove on the country road.

Tristan suffered serious head injuries when the family's blue Subaru hit a 4x4 (Wales News Service)
Tristan suffered serious head injuries when the family's blue Subaru hit a 4x4 (Wales News Service)

She said her eight-year-old daughter Branwen - who was sitting in the front passenger seat - became "hysterical and start screaming".

She said she turned her attention to Branwen to calm her down while still driving but the car then crashed, killing Tristan in the back seat.

When asked by police why she had not stopped, she replied: "No comment."

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The inquest in Aberystwyth heard their car drifted on to the wrong side of the A485 and hit a 4x4 towing a trailer.

The Mitsubishi was being driven by farmer David Glyndwr Jones who was on his way to Builth Wells livestock market in Mid Wales at the time of the crash near Tregaron, Ceredigion, in May last year.

He added: "At first it was straddling the white line, about a quarter of the vehicle on the wrong side. Then it came all the way over to my side and I could see it wasn't going to stop.

Tristan's sister Branwen - who was sitting in the front passenger seat - became "hysterical and start screaming" when she saw a spider (Wales News Service)
Tristan's sister Branwen - who was sitting in the front passenger seat - became "hysterical and start screaming" when she saw a spider (Wales News Service)

"All this happened in about six seconds - I just had enough time to warn my wife and brace myself. I feel devastated by what happened. I don't understand why she didn't see us and drive back to her side."

The inquest heard the Subaru had recently passed its MOT and all three people in the car were wearing seat belts.

Mrs Younger was driving her two children more than five miles from their home in Tregaron to school in nearby Llangibby.

Tristan was sitting in the back seat when he was killed (Wales News Service)
Tristan was sitting in the back seat when he was killed (Wales News Service)
The 11-year-old was being taken to school by his mother when their car suddenly crashed (Wales News Service)
The 11-year-old was being taken to school by his mother when their car suddenly crashed (Wales News Service)

Mrs Younger did not give evidence at the inquest, but when asked by the coroner if she had anything to add, she said: "If I could remember more, I would have said more."

The inquest heard when Mrs Younger was first interviewed by police in June 2018, she answered "no comment" to every question.

There was no evidence as to how fast the car was travelling on the 60mph road, but Mr Jones said his vehicle was almost at a standstill at the point of impact.

A conclusion of misadventure was recorded by coroner Peter Brunton.