THE inquest into the death of a 17-year-old who was killed after a collision with a car on the M5 has been opened and adjourned until late next year.
Tamzin Ellen Hall, a student from Henlade, Taunton, died on November 11 on the M5 Southbound after exiting a stationary police car that had been travelling towards Bridgwater, while under arrest.
Samantha Marsh, senior coroner for Somerset, opened the inquest at Wells Town Hall, in Wells, on Tuesday, November 26, expressing her sincerest condolences to Tamzin’s family.
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The pre-inquest review will be held on November 5, 2025, which Mrs Marsh explained was the “earliest date available” owing to the complexity and expected length of the inquest, which will be seen by a jury – as is required due to Tamzin being in state attention at the time of her death.
Ben Batley, coroner’s officer for Somerset, told the court the broad circumstances of Tamzin’s death, telling how Tamzin left the police vehicle on the M5 Northbound carriageway between junctions 25 at Taunton and 24 at Bridgwater, at the 203.5 marker post, and sustained “unsurvivable injuries”.
Mr Batley told the court: “For reasons yet to be established, Tamzin left the police car, climbing the barrier, and colliding with a vehicle on the Southbound carriageway”.
The court heard how a Home Office forensic postmortem found Tamzin’s cause of death to be “head, neck, and chest injuries, pending laboratory investigations”. The coroner confirmed that Tamzin’s body had been released back to the family.
He added: "Police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) inquiries are ongoing as to the circumstances of the collision and how Tamzin came to be where she was found.”
Tamzin was a student, who lived and was born in Taunton on November 23, 2006. She is survived by her mother Amy Victoria Hall and siblings.
Her "devastated" mother has paid tribute to Tamzin, who she said had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, calling her "the most kindest, caring, loving, loyal girl".
Interested persons set to attend the inquest include Tamzin’s immediate family, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), Avon and Somerset Police, and the driver of the vehicle that collided with Tamzin.
On the night of Monday, November 11, Tamzin was being transported to a custody suite in Bridgwater by two officers in an Avon and Somerset Police car from an address in Taunton, Somerset, when the incident took place.
Tamzin got out of the stationary vehicle on the northbound carriageway shortly after 11pm and was hit by a car on the southbound carriageway. Paramedics attended the motorway within minutes, pronouncing Tamzin dead at the scene.
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