A GRIEVING father condemned a hit-and-run driver for failing to stop to help his dying son after running over him on an Oldbury dual-carriageway.

Anthony Maskell was already lying in the road, possibly after tripping or losing his balance, when he was struck by a Nissan Micra causing “catastrophic” head injuries.

Divorced father-of-two Mr Maskell, known as Tony, had been drinking heavily prior to the accident on July 30 last year on Birchfield Lane, outside the Whiteheath Tavern, at 11.35pm.

An inquest into his death was held today at Smethwick Coroner’s Court and a pathology report revealed he had 315 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, making him almost four times the drink drive limit.

Investigating officer PC Karl Davies said Mr Maskell, a lorry driver, “perhaps had an alcohol dependency” and was carrying a couple of bottles of cider at the time of the accident.

He said the victim may have tripped or lost his balance as he stepped off a deep kerb along the central reservation and fallen into the carriageway.

PC Davies added Mr Maskell was wearing dark clothing and it was possible the driver did not see his body lying in the road.

Mr Maskell, of Westgate Terrace, Rowley Regis, who had two sons, aged 16 and 18, died the following day in Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

His father, David Maskell, aged 78, of Penncricket Lane, Rowley Regis, said: “I can accept the driver may not have seen him. The crime was that he did not stop – he didn’t show common decency.

“If he had stopped and tried to help I would have taken my hat off to him.”

PC Davies said extensive inquiries had been made to find the driver and the Nissan Micra – which forensic tests from debris and CCTV footage had identified as a K11 series silver Micra manufactured between 2000 and 2003.

He told the inquest there were 599 vehicles of that type in the Black Country and 551 had been eliminated from inquiries. The remainder, which were untraceable, had been added to a “hot list” and if they are ever located will be either “eliminated or incriminated” from the investigation.

Black Country coroner Zafar Siddique said Mr Maskell’s death was “an absolute tragedy” and concluded he died as a result of a road traffic collision.