Woman killed after a lorry ploughed into her house when the driver suffered an ‘explosive coughing fit’

Mr Marshall was initially reported to the procurator fiscal for causing her death by dangerous driving, however the Crown Office decided against pursuing the case.

At Kilmarnock Sheriff Court, it was heard that the driver suffered an explosive coughing fit moments before the crash in Fairlie, North Ayrshire.

Catherine's family were present for the beginning of the inquiry into her death.

The court heard from one witness who was driving behind the lorry before it crashed into the house.

William McCrindle, 77, a retired businessman, was driving to his home in West Kilbride, North Ayrshire on the day of the crash.

He said: "I took the A78 to Largs and Ardrossan. It was dry, clear, no wind and the traffic was quite quiet.

"I was driving at precisely 30 miles an hour. I was stopped four or five months before for speeding, so I knew what speed I was doing.

"There was a car between me and the truck. The car in front was much smaller than the lorry.

"When you come up to where the accident happened, there's a bend and it comes to the left.

"The truck did not take the bend. The truck took a direct line straight down the road, straight into the house.

"It was almost like a disaster movie, there was a colossal bang.

"I parked the car and rushed up quickly to the house. The gap between the wall and house was narrower than the truck.

"The house was made of heavy sandstone and a pile of bricks was lying in the road.

"A pedestrian told me there was a lady lying under the debris.

"The first thing I did was phone 999 and said 'I need the fire brigade, police and ambulance right away'."

Mr McCrindle said that the lorry was embedded so far into the house that he was sure the driver had been killed.

The pensioner then directed traffic around the debris in the road until the emergency services arrived within five minutes of the call.

He added: "I waited while the police did their work.

"I was there long enough to see the driver helped out of the car and he did not appear to be injured."

The court also heard from Dr Peter Bloomfield, 64, a consultant cardiologist from Edinburgh, who examined Mr Marshall in 2014.

He told the court: "The account [Mr Marshall] gave me corresponded exactly with what he said earlier.

"He was driving his fully loaded lorry and he had an explosive coughing fit.

"He saw himself crash into the wall, he remembers someone helping him out of the cab."

Dr Bloomfield explained how he carried out his examination of Mr Marshall.

He said: "You'd be asking for symptoms of dizziness and episodes where he might have been dizzy at the wheel of a lorry.

"He's a smoker and overweight but this episode that occurred seems to have been a very violent episode.

"I wanted to know if he had symptoms of sleep apnea.

"If you don't sleep properly then you don't feel properly refreshed, and the body will try to catch up the next day.

"He snores, and snoring is one of the features of sleep apnea, but this was not the case with George."

Dr Bloomfield added that Mr Marshall weighed more than 15st, and that he carried out tests of his blood pressure.

He said: "There are four blood vessels that supply the brain and within are pressure sensors.

"The pressure sensors regulate blood pressure.

"If they detect that your blood pressure has risen, they will send a signal to slow the heart.