Suzanne Cornwell

A TEENAGE girl died following a freak go-karting accident where her scarf got caught in the engine of her kart.

Suzanne Cornwell, 18, was completing her first lap of the Cambridgeshire Raceway indoor track, at Caxton, on December 10, 2009, when the accident happened.

She and her friends had been invited there for an out-of-hours session by track marshall Andy Kivlin, an inquest heard.

Her friends Jessica Hitchcock, her boyfriend Christopher Hamilton, her brother William, Mr Hamilton’s sister Victoria, and Melissa Rees-Howell were also karting.

An inquest in Huntingdon yesterday into the death of Suzanne, a pupil at Long Road Sixth form College, in Cambridge, heard Mr Hamilton was cutting the scarf free from her neck as Mr Hitchcock rang for an ambulance.

The ambulance was subsequently cancelled following Mr Kivlin’s request when Suzanne started to splutter and show signs of improvement.

Mr Kivlin said he thought it would be quicker to take her to hospital himself.

When Mr Hitchcock realised Suzanne, of Limes Road, Hardwick, was not recovering two or three minutes later, he rang again. She was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital where she died a day later.

A post-mortem examination recorded the cause of death as ligature strangulation.

Mr Kivlin, 24, told coroner David Morris that he did not realise it was Suzanne’s first time go-karting, though it was her first time under his supervision.

“I helped Suzanne put her helmet on as she was finding it difficult finding one that fitted as she was so small,” he said, “As I did this I told her a few basic instructions and if she wasn’t enjoying it to pull over.”

Tim Willitts, representing Suzanne’s family, asked Mr Kivlin if he had noticed her scarf. He replied: “If I had seen it I would have taken it off.”

Paul Shinn, volunteer manager at the track at the time, told the inquest he took Mr Kivlin under his wing and trusted him. “Andy knew that if he held out-of-hours sessions he wouldn’t have a job,” he said.

“If I wasn’t at the track supervising, these things weren’t to happen and they [the marshals] knew that.”

In a statement, the family said: “Suzanne was full of life and wanted to make something of her life. She was a carer to her dad, who has Parkinson’s disease, and a carer and sharer to her mum.

“Suzanne has left a massive hole in our lives that will never be filled. We will always remember her for ever more.”

The second day of the inquest is due to continue today.

See www.cambridgefirst.co.uk