Inquest deems Black's death accidental

Colin Vearncombe, the 53 year old Liverpudlian, had been driving his car towards Cork Airport on the morning of January 10 when the accident happened. The inquest heard that it was a damp, cold morning with reports of icy patches in several places.

An eye-witness, Zbignieu Skorupa, told the inquest that he was on his way home to Bandon having collected his two grandsons from Cork Airport.

Skorupa said that as he was driving in an area known locally as Bowen's Cross he saw a car coming towards him. He said that it was spinning and rotating across the road. His car hit the rear of the other vehicle and shunted it up onto a ditch.

Vearncombe was removed from his car and taken to Cork University Hospital but died there shortly after being placed in a medically induced coma.

Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margot Bolster said the cause of death was traumatic brain injury which was consistent with involvement in a road accident. The jury into the inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.

Black emerged from the punk rock music scene and achieved mainstream pop success in the late 1980s, most notably with the international hit single 'Wonderful Life', released in 1987.

Black, who has sold more than two million albums worldwide, had lived in Ireland for over a decade and toured extensively.

As well as releasing more than a dozen albums, he had also staged exhibitions of his art in Ireland and published poetry.