The former head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad was killed when he pulled out in front of an articulated lorry while trying to turn off a dual carriageway, a coroner heard today.

Ex-Metropolitan Police Commander George Churchill-Coleman OBE headed the anti-terror squad for seven years as they battled the IRA's mainland bombing campaign of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Speaking at the time of his death, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe described Mr Churchill-Coleman as 'one of the finest leaders in police counter-terrorism'.

George Churchill-Coleman, former head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad, was killed when he pulled out in front of an articulated lorry while trying to turn off a dual carriageway, a coroner heard today

Ex-Metropolitan Police Commander George Churchill-Coleman OBE (left, with Margaret Thatcher) headed the anti-terror squad for seven years as they battled the IRA's mainland bombing campaign of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Above, visiting the Carlton Club in central London, 1990, after it was bombed by the IRA

An inquest heard how the retired police chief was killed when his car hit a heavy-duty lorry so hard that the car gouged a deep groove in the road as the bodywork was forced into the tarmac.

Mr Churchill-Coleman was airlifted to hospital after the accident last December where he spent more than three weeks on a life-support machine as medical teams treated his serious head injuries.

However, they were unable to save him and the 76-year-old died in hospital on January 10.

Mr Churchill-Coleman had been driving along the B11 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, when he took a right-hand turn across the other side of the dual carriageway.

'In doing so, he's driven into the path of an articulated lorry,' Elizabeth Gray, assistant coroner for Milton Keynes said.

Lorry driver Mark Hunter said he had been driving at around 45mph when a white Vauxhall Vectra darted out in front of him.

'I was on the brakes straight away but I just couldn't stop,' he told the hearing in Milton Keynes today.

'He came onto the carriageway and turned right.

A post-mortem examination showed the pensioner had died from multiple organ failure and a traumatic brain injury

'I just did my best to pull up and I just didn't have a chance.'

Witness Charlie Davis had been driving alongside Mr Churchill-Coleman's estate and said it had been a 'really nice and clear day'.

She noticed his car pause momentarily in the fast lane of the dual carriageway before it suddenly pulled out in front of the oncoming lorry.

'It was almost as if he couldn't quite decide whether he was going to go for it,' she said.

'He stopped as if he was going to wait for traffic, but then decided "I can make it".'

Emergency services were called to the crash in Tongwell Street, Milton Keynes, at around 12.10pm on December 19 and two fire crews helped free the former officer from his wrecked vehicle.

The air ambulance took Mr Churchill-Coleman to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he underwent emergency treatment for his serious head injuries.

Police who examined the scene said there was no evidence either vehicle had been skidding before the crash and found the road was in good condition.

Forensic collision investigator Andrew Evans, who works for Thames Valley and Hampshire Police, said tracking data showed Mr Hunter's lorry had been driving at 44mph, well below the national speed limit of 50mph for large goods vehicles on that stretch of road.

He could find nothing wrong with either vehicle, but said a mobile phone had been found in Mr Churchill-Coleman's car with a satellite navigation programme running on the screen, indicating he may have been slightly distracted or lost at the time of the crash.

'At the time he made the turn, the Scania [lorry] would have been in his view,' he explained.

'It could be that he was distracted momentarily. It could be that he's looked and not seen something that's very close.

'The vehicle is there to be seen - but people don't see things sometimes.'

A post-mortem examination showed the pensioner had died from multiple organ failure and a traumatic brain injury.

Concluding today's inquest, assistant coroner Gray said: 'The evidence is that the HGV would have been visible to a driver.

'We're not able to say why Mr Churchill-Coleman took a decision to turn across.

'His driving appeared hesitant - he was perhaps lost.

We're not able to say why Mr Churchill-Coleman took a decision to turn across. His driving appeared hesitant - he was perhaps lost Elizabeth Gray, assistant coroner

'The conclusion that I will draw is that Mr Churchill-Coleman died as a result of a road traffic collision.'

Mr Churchill-Coleman was the head of the force's anti-terror branch between 1985 and 1992, becoming the public face of the police's fight against the attacks.

In 1991, when the IRA fired three home-made mortars at Downing Street during a cabinet meeting - two overshot and one exploded in the garden - Mr Churchill-Coleman described the attack as 'daring and well planned' but 'badly executed'.

He left the role in 1992 to spend more time with his second wife, Wendy, whom he married in 1991, but was left fuming after the Sunday Express reported he was being axed.

He went on to win damages, costs and an apology from the paper.

Following the ex-commander's death, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: 'I was extremely sad to hear of the untimely death of George Churchill-Coleman.

'His seven years as Commander of the anti-terrorist branch was a demanding period facing a mainland bombing campaign by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

'I met George on a few occasions and he was a charming and professionally distinguished man.

'He will be sadly missed but remembered as one of the finest leaders in police counter-terrorism.'

Born in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in 1938, Mr Churchill-Coleman was awarded an OBE in 1994 and received the Queen's Police Medal.

He had two children - Richard and Jane - with his first wife, Anne, and three more - twins Lucy and Emma, and Henry - by his second wife Wendy, whom he also divorced.

Speaking today, his son Richard said his father had spent 'his life in public service'.

The former police chief's daughter Jane added: 'He wouldn't have wanted to cause any trauma to the witnesses.