Five day inquest into death of British national Grace Moulding begins in Alice Springs
The first day of an inquest into the death of a British woman in the Red Centre has heard from her grieving family, while also revealing her final attempts to stop an accident which claimed her life.
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A young British national’s final “overcorrection” on a remote Territory road was the catalyst to her car rolling over, the first day of an inquest into her death has heard.
The five day inquest into the death of Grace Moulding began in the Alice Springs Local Court on Monday, a little under two years after her loss in 2023.
Ms Moulding died in a crash on Sandover Hwy, 112km south of Arlparra, on June 17 when she was returning to Ampilatwatja from Alice Springs.
She was the Ampilatwatja Arts Centre manager, and was returning to the community with arts centre studio co-ordinator Harriet Brown.
Ms Brown appeared in court on Monday, and sat in the back row, occasionally wiping her eyes.
Ms Moulding, who held an NT learners licence, was behind the wheel of a Toyota Troop Carrier – which the court heard was unregistered.
Giving evidence first in the inquest was Major Crash Unit detective sergeant Sean Aila, who told the court he believed Ms Moulding swerved four times before crashing.
“It appears that her left hand passenger side tyres have got into some loose dirt and she’s overcorrected,” he said.
“From the marks there, we can see that she’s pulled it nearly across to the other side of the road.
“A common reaction is to bring it back to the side that you were on, an overcorrection, a steering input to the left and it’s brought her back across to the other side of the road.
“And again (she made) another steering input to again correct herself from driving off the road, and she’s turned the wheel too hard and the vehicle’s gone into a hard yaw and tripped and rolled to the resting place.”
In investigating the crash, Mr Aila said “speed calculations” determined Ms Moulding was travelling at 117km/h on the road.
Currently, the default speed limit on the unsealed Sandover Hwy is 110kmh.
A recent service meant inspectors “could rule out the unroadworthy aspect” of the vehicle in the crash, Mr Aila said.
But investigations also uncovered the vehicle was unregistered, the court heard, due to both the seller and the buyer not submitting the necessary forms upon the completion of the sale.
The court heard the vehicle belonged to the arts corporation.
Representing the corporation is Sandra Wendlandt, who asked if Mr Aila found the corporation’s driving policies during the course of his investigation, which Mr Aila confirmed he did.
He also said the car did not have learner plates attached, nor did he uncover a learner logbook when he searched the car.
The court heard Ms Moulding held an unrestricted UK driver’s license at the time of the accident.
Ms Moulding’s parents, Rod Moulding and Janet Lam, listened in to the inquest via videolink from Great Britain.
Counsel-assisting the Coroner Helena Blundell read out a statement on behalf of the family, who said “the grief we feel is insurmountable” as they try to continue on with their lives.
“We find ourselves struggling through day-to-day life, unable to work or function on some days. But we try our hardest to be brave,” Ms Blundell said on the family’s behalf.
“Although we will mourn you forever, we take comfort in our glorious memories of times shared.”
The court heard Ms Moulding was born in Leicester and the inquest began a month after she would have turned 29.
At the time of her death, she was aged 27.
She had graduated university, and previously worked at an arts centre in Yuendumu before returning to the UK.
She was back in Australia just before Covid hit. Upon her return, she got the job with Ampilatwatja Arts Centre.
During her opening statement, Ms Blundell outlined four issues Coroner Elisabeth Armitage would examine throughout the inquest.
The issues were investigating if the current Sandover Hwy speed limit was appropriate; what the maintenance schedule was for the highway; the corporation’s policies around driving on unsealed roads; and what systems it had in place to ensure vehicles were registered and ownership details were current.
There had been three other crashes on the Sandover Hwy involving cars belonging to Ampilatwatja Arts, the first of which occurred in 2010.
There “were no serious injuries” in the first, Ms Blundell said, while in the second in 2013 a Belgian national also rolled a Troop Carrier.
The third, in 2021, also involved a Troop Carrier rolling, with the passenger and driver suffering “significant injuries”, Ms Blundell said.
The inquest continues.
Originally published as Five day inquest into death of British national Grace Moulding begins in Alice Springs
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