Looe farm crash: Girl, 10, died when vehicle rolled over Published duration 30 May 2019

image copyright Devon and Cornwall Police image caption Lily McCormick was described as a "truly inspiring little girl"

A 10-year-old girl died when she was thrown from an off-road vehicle which rolled over in a sloping field, an inquest has heard.

Lily McCormick had been sitting on her older brother's lap and holding the steering wheel before the accident on farmland near Looe on 26 July 2018.

She fell from the vehicle after it made a sharp turn and sustained severe head injuries.

The coroner in Truro concluded her death was accidental.

Lily had been on a four-hour horse ride with her mother, Leona McCormick, the inquest heard.

At about 17:00 BST her brother Josh Doney, 20, came to collect them both from the field where they kept horses.

The three of them then used the all-terrain vehicle to transport water to horses in the field, with Mr Doney driving.

'Truly inspiring girl'

Giving evidence, Mr Doney explained how his mother had asked him to "go off and play with Lily in the quad" while she did some jobs in the stable yard.

Lily held the steering wheel, while her brother held her arms and controlled the accelerator. Neither were wearing seat belts at the time.

He said: "We went up and down the field a few times and she was having a good time. She asked if she could drive and so she sat on my lap.

"I don't know what happened. She grabbed the wheel or something and it just tipped."

Lily was taken by air ambulance to hospital where she was declared dead just after 19:30.

Assistant coroner for Cornwall Stephen Covell said: "I accept police evidence that the accident was caused principally by a severe turning manoeuvre across a steep slope."

Speaking outside Truro Magistrates Court, Mrs McCormick said Lily was "a beautiful, truly inspiring, little girl. I feel her strength pushing me forward. She lives in my heart".

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