A DENTIST who lost control of his luxury sports car at a roundabout crashing into the back of a stationary double-deck bus died ten years later from the injuries he had suffered, an inquest heard.

Christopher Hutton was 57 when he was driving a Maserati car on the A61 towards Harrogate and lost control at a roundabout, colliding with the back of the bus, the hearing in Bradford was told yesterday.

There were no witnesses to the crash on December 9, 2004 which left him with debilitating head and brain injuries from which there was no recovery, said Coroner's officer Chris Dalby.

Mr Hutton, who was born in Bradford, was eventually discharged from hospital to live at St Ives Disabled Care Unit at Bingley where he was heavily reliant on others. Among other health problems he had difficulties with swallowing and his food had to be pureed.

Over the years he became susceptible to infections and a Do Not Resuscitate Order was put in place, the inquest was told.

On October 13 this year Mr Hutton developed a fever because of an infection and was admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary, the source of the infection was unclear and could have been chest or urinary.

Although Mr Hutton accepted his antibiotics and showed improvement he refused his food.

Mr Dalby said at that point Mr Hutton was taken back to the care home to end his life in familiar surroundings.

Family had told his doctors he was fed up and had had enough of life, the hearing was told.

Mr Hutton died peacefully in his sleep at the St Ives unit aged 67 on October 14. The cause of death was given as pneumonia with his traumatic brain injury being an underlying factor.

Bradford Coroner Martin Fleming recorded a verdict that Mr Hutton had died as a result of a road traffic accident because there was a causative link between his head injury and his condition.

"I find it was more likely than not he died because of the road traffic collision," he said.

The case was one of the first to be heard by Mr Fleming as he started his new role as the city's coroner - previously he had been an assistant coroner in Sheffield, Liverpool and The Wirral, Surrey and Inner West London.

Other cases yesterday included opening and adjourning an inquest into the suspected death due to industrial disease on December 2 of 72-year-old Trevor Matthews, a former glazier and glass merchant, of Leamington Drive, Apperley Bridge.

In a separate case, Mr Fleming recorded that 67-year-old Alexander Wright, who had alcohol-related dementia, and caused several hundreds of pounds of damage while under a deprivation of liberty order at Greystones Care Home in Parsons Road, Heaton, had died from natural causes on September 12 this year.