This is strange:
A barmaid who smoked a cigarette as her car sank into the sea died of hypothermia, an inquest has heard.
Mother-of-two Helen Hogan drove her Astra estate off a ferry slipway in Poole, Dorset.
Nearby anglers said the 30-year-old made no attempt to get out of her car after it sped into the water on Sunday night.
Fisherman Mike Warren , 31, told the Daily Express: "I was going to jump in but changed my mind when I saw her light the cigarette.
"It was like she wanted to go."
Mrs Hogan, of Canford Road, Bournemouth, was pulled from the vehicle by coastguard crews but attempts to resuscitate her failed.
The inquest heard she died in Poole Hospital at 2am on Monday.
Alan Freeborn, 54, landlord of The Foundry Arms in Poole, where Mrs Hogan worked as a cleaner, said she leaves behind her seven-year-old son, Kyle, and daughter, Lei, six.
Mrs Hogan, who was separated from her husband, Gareth, had recently lost a friend to breast cancer and her grandmother had also died, Mr Freeborn said.
"I think she had one or two family problems. She lost her gran, and her friend to breast cancer," he added. "She was obviously upset at the time but didn't appear too different to how she normally was.
"That's the bit we can't understand. She had a lot to live for. She had a good group of friends. It will be very difficult to replace her. Most of them are very upset today."
The hearing was adjourned until a date to be fixed.
A barmaid who smoked a cigarette as her car sank into the sea died of hypothermia, an inquest has heard.
Mother-of-two Helen Hogan drove her Astra estate off a ferry slipway in Poole, Dorset.
Nearby anglers said the 30-year-old made no attempt to get out of her car after it sped into the water on Sunday night.
Fisherman Mike Warren , 31, told the Daily Express: "I was going to jump in but changed my mind when I saw her light the cigarette.
"It was like she wanted to go."
Mrs Hogan, of Canford Road, Bournemouth, was pulled from the vehicle by coastguard crews but attempts to resuscitate her failed.
The inquest heard she died in Poole Hospital at 2am on Monday.
Alan Freeborn, 54, landlord of The Foundry Arms in Poole, where Mrs Hogan worked as a cleaner, said she leaves behind her seven-year-old son, Kyle, and daughter, Lei, six.
Mrs Hogan, who was separated from her husband, Gareth, had recently lost a friend to breast cancer and her grandmother had also died, Mr Freeborn said.
"I think she had one or two family problems. She lost her gran, and her friend to breast cancer," he added. "She was obviously upset at the time but didn't appear too different to how she normally was.
"That's the bit we can't understand. She had a lot to live for. She had a good group of friends. It will be very difficult to replace her. Most of them are very upset today."
The hearing was adjourned until a date to be fixed.
