Inquest into Home and Away actor’s death begins
An inquest into the death of Home and Away actor Jessica Falkholt, her “innocent and ordinary” family, and a driver under the influence has begun. The inquest has been told the head-on collision occurred at such a fast speed that the cars formed a triangle.
Falkholt, her sister, and her parents died after the other driver failed to negotiate a bend on a highway as the Falkholts were returning to Sydney from NSW’s south coast on Boxing Day in 2017.
The NSW Coroners Court was told on Tuesday that witnesses saw the cars hit each with such force “they were pushed up to the air and momentarily formed a triangle”.
Lars and Vivian Falkholt died in the crash while sisters Jessica and Annabelle, who were rescued from the wreckage from passersby, died later in hospital.
“They were innocent and ordinary in that they were just travelling home from a Christmas spent with extended family in a way that many of us can identify with,” Donna Ward, the counsel assisting the coroner, said in her opening address.
She said the crash had been caused by Craig Whitall who had medical issues and a record of poor driving dating back to 1984.
The inquest will also examine how Whitall was prescribed the multiple prescription drugs and consider how they would have affected his driving ability.
Post-mortem toxicology showed Whitall had consumed a small amount of methamphetamine, some cannabis, a “markedly high” level of an antidepressant called doxepin or Deptran, and a series of benzodiazepines, including diazepam which is also known as Valium.
Ms Ward said reports made at the time stating Mr Whitall was returning home from a methadone clinic were incorrect, and the court heard the post-mortem found no methadone in his system.
“Which is why the issues list looks at a more complex picture, including toxicology results for Mr Whitall and the likely effects of various prescription drugs, including methadone, but also doxepin and diazepam,” Ms Ward.
“And there were also some other drugs detected in lesser quantities which may or may not have contributed to the crash.”
A forensic pharmacologist had told the inquest the amount in Whitall’s system would have likely caused “significant impairment of his cognitive and motor functions which would have resulted in impairment of his driving ability.”
“Whatever his failings, Whitall loved his family as best he could and they love and miss him,” Ward said.
The inquest is set to run until Friday.
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