A 21-year-old beauty queen died after being crushed by her own car while unloading items in winter, an inquest heard today. Eleisha Skinner, a student at Buckinghamshire New University, was reverse-parked outside her accommodation in High Wycombe on January 4 when the vehicle slipped and pinned her to a wall.
The aspiring social worker had returned from the Christmas break and was unloading her black Audi A1 from the rear when the accident occurred. A resident heard a bang, a scream, and shouts of 'get off, get off' before finding Ms Skinner unconscious, the inquest heard.
Senior coroner Crispin Butler told Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court that the sloped driveway was covered in ice, making it 'very slippery'. The driveway had not been salted or gritted, and there was no barrier or railings to prevent overrun. Ms Skinner was taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford but died on January 8 from anoxic brain injury due to asphyxia compression.
The coroner issued a prevention of future deaths report to Howarth Property, the accommodation owners, who have since installed railings. The firm has 56 days to respond. The inquest heard that Ms Skinner's car was in neutral with no defects and the handbrake fully up.
Ms Skinner was crowned Miss Faversham in 2022 and later Miss Congeniality. Her family described her as 'kind, selfless, and passionate', adding: 'We will carry her with us always, our beautiful Eleisha, forever loved, forever missed and never forgotten.' Buckinghamshire New University will award her a posthumous BSc with honours in social work.
