Hairdresser died after accidentally reversing car onto herself

A mobile hairdresser lost her life after she was dragged under her own car while reaching inside it outside client's house, and accidentally hit the accelerator.

Blanche Mullinger had got out of the vehicle, leaving the automatic Mazda CX-5 in reverse and the engine running, grabbed something out the back of the car then reached into the front before accidentally putting her foot on the accelerator. With one foot lodged inside, the 57-year-old was dragged under the front wheels of the 1.5 tonne vehicle.

Her client Marzena Ozimek told Hampshire Coroner's Court in Winchester, Hants, she heard Ms Mullinger scream as she pulled up outside her house for an appointment. Ms Ozimek said: "I received a call from Blanche and she said she believed she was in front of my house. She was on her mobile phone... I saw her so I said I can see you now, you can put down the phone, and I started coming down the stairs.

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"As I came downstairs she was still on her phone. She was parked. I told her to get off the phone and then as I moved out I noticed Blanche was bending over in the rear offside car door which was open and it appeared that she was grabbing something."

Ms Ozimek said she saw Ms Mullinger go to get back in the driver's seat when the car shot backwards, reports Wales Online. "I then heard a scream from Blanche. I started running towards her." She said Ms Mullinger was partly stuck under the vehicle, adding: "Her foot was still inside the car. It appeared her foot was stuck under the dashboard while the rest of her body was lying on the ground."

Ms Ozimek said she banged on neighbours' doors in Bordon, Hants, to