Sagar Bhatti: Reason why man was lying in road 'unclear' rules coroner

Area coroner Jason Pegg told Winchester Coroner's Court that 23-year-old Sagar Bhatti might have been "punched causing him to fall to the ground" or "stumbled and fell".

Mr Bhatti's death on March 10, 2019 was at the centre of a manslaughter trial two years ago that ended with the defendant being cleared.

He was struck by a Vauxhall Astra and a Renault Megan on Woodside Avenue in Eastleigh after a night out.

The inquest was told Mr Bhatti was "motionless" on the northbound lane. Tests revealed he was nearly four times the alcohol drink-drive limit.

Flowers at the scene of the crash in Woodside Avenue, Eastleigh (Image: Newsquest)

"The alcohol within Sagar's body stopped him getting to his feet and getting out of the road," Mr Pegg said in his narrative conclusion.

His family disagreed with the conclusion, with one relative saying: "Someone else put him there. Someone had a duty of care to remove him and they didn't."

Kieran Hobbs - who was on the night out with Mr Bhatti - was cleared of manslaughter at a trial at Salisbury Crown Court in 2021 having denied the allegation.

In a statement read out during Monday's inquest, Nicola Wall, who had also been out drinking with Mr Bhatti the night before his death, said they had been at the Station Bar in Eastleigh before getting a taxi to a property near Broadlands Avenue.

After more drinks, Nicola saw Mr Bhatti “laying on his front to the side of the road”.

Mr Bhatti worked at Southampton Airport as a security officer and had been living in Avon Green, Chandler’s Ford.

A post-mortem found that he had suffered injuries to most of his body including his head, neck, arm, leg and chest.

A high level of alcohol was also found in his body which Mr Pegg said “is likely to have resulted in Sagar collapsing”.

Winchester Coroner's Court. (Image: Newsquest)

After the crash, a forensic investigation found that the Vauxhall driver would not have seen Mr Bhatti until he was 23 to six metres away.

The road has a speed limit of 40mph. The Vauxhall driver said he was driving at 35mph.

The investigation also discovered that at the time of the crash, the streetlights on Woodside Avenue were dimmed to just 30 per cent of their full brightness leaving a “very short response time available to the driver”.

Concluding, Mr Pegg said Mr Bhatti suffered “very serious injuries to his head, to his chest and to his abdomen, consistent with being run over by a motor car”.

He added: “It might be that he stumbled and fell as he was crossing the road. Sagar was slurring his words and he was swaying.

“It might be that Sagar was punched causing him to fall to the ground.

“If Sagar had been assaulted by being punched by anybody in the minutes or hours leading up to his passing, the injury caused by that punch would have been insignificant.”

Mr Pegg added: “The Vauxhall and Renault motor cars both drove over Sagar. Those injuries caused the death. How Sagar came to be laying in the road can’t be obtained.”