Partner's tribute after tragic fatal crash inquest

9:00am Saturday 13th March 2010

By Emily Roberts

THE PARTNER of a dad who was killed by a deer, when it smashed through a windscreen and hit him, has told how she had called him on his mobile phone at the exact moment the tragedy happened.

Melynda Armstrong had been planning a summer wedding with her partner of four years Malcolm Brown when he died in a freak accident on the A339 near Herriard just four days before Christmas.

A coroner has now recorded a verdict of accidental death after hearing how the tragedy unfolded at about 11am on December 21 last year.

Struggling to come to terms with her grief, 24-year-old Miss Armstrong, from Anvil Way, Bramley, recalled: “I was ringing him and he didn’t answer and I thought that was strange because he always answers. I kept thinking ‘don’t worry about it, it’s probably nothing.’ But at the back of my mind I thought something wasn’t right. I later found out I was ringing him as the accident was happening.”

The couple, who had two children together – three-year-old Loui and Bea Armstrong-Brown, who is 20-months-old, – had spoken of their plans to get married later this year.

Miss Armstrong, who is a learning support assistant at Tadley Horizon School, said: “We always said it wasn’t important for us, but we said we would get married in case anything ever happened to either of us.

“Malcolm wanted to wait until the children were a bit older so they could be part of it and we both said this summer. You don’t think you have to rush things – you think you have all the time in the world.”

Miss Armstrong spoke of the moment she found out her 32-year-old partner, whom she had known since she was 16, had died.

“The doorbell rang and I knew something was wrong,” she said. “I opened it up and panicked and I thought, ‘why are the police here?’ And then it clicked. I can’t remember the day that well. I just remember standing in the hallway screaming.

“The police officer said it was a fatal crash and I felt sick. I thought they must have got muddled up.”

The last text message she had sent Mr Brown had warned him to be careful because of the snow that was falling that day.

She said: “I always text him in the morning and I said to be careful on the roads. I don’t know why I said that and I still don’t to this day. It’s not the sort of thing I would say usually.”

The family had been looking forward to a quiet Christmas at home together. Miss Armstrong was forced to put on a brave face for their children, and opened presents that Mr Brown had bought for her before he died.

She said Mr Brown had been a “brilliant” father to their two children, and added: “He was a really lovely person. He never let anything get to him and he was brilliant with the kids.

“No one had a bad word to say about him. He was a down-to-earth, nice person and adored his kids. Every time you saw him with them, you could see how much he loved them.

“I still expect to see him sometimes and I come home and it feels so empty. I try to keep talking about him. I don’t want the kids to ever feel he’s been forgotten.”