A CHARITY worker who died the day after she absconded from a mental health hospital was killed in a road traffic collision, an inquest has concluded.

Hazel Nunn, 36, suffered catastrophic head injuries when she was hit by a red Seat Ibiza on the A181, close to Old Cassop, near Durham City, on June 1 last year.

At an inquest at Crook Coroners’ Court, Denise Cowie, the driver of the car, described how Miss Nunn appeared to run directly towards her vehicle as she drove over the brow of a hill.

PC Michael Woodhouse, a forensic collision investigator, said it was estimated that Mrs Cowie was travelling at 40mph on the 60mph limit road, adding: “There was insufficient time or distance to avoid the collision.”

The jury heard Miss Nunn had been detained at Kingsley Green Hospital in her home county of Hertfordshire on May 27 for a mental health assessment. She absconded while on accompanied leave in the hospital grounds the day before her death.

Dr Maite Von Heising, a consultant psychiatrist, said Miss Nunn had presented clear symptoms of persecutory delusions, paranoia and anxiety, but had started to engage with hospital staff and expressed a strong desire to “live without fear.”

Miss Nunn, who was head of research and evaluation at the Samaritans, spent the night of May 31 in London before travelling to Durham by train the next morning. She had no known connections to the region.

The jury retired earlier today and returned with a conclusion of death as a result of a road traffic collision.

Miss Nunn, from Watford, was described by her family as a “wonderful, caring and loving person.”