A young man who was about to start work as an assistant racehorse trainer at a North Yorkshire stables died after his car caught fire.
An inquest heard that the remains of Hugh William Mulryan, who was 25, were found in his burnt out VW Passat on Marishes Lane near Malton in the early hours of 16 June last year.
Subsequent police enquiries found that he had been involved in a crash in the Passat a few hours earlier.
At an inquest in Northallerton today (Tuesday), coroner Jonathan Leach said that Mr Mulryan was an experienced horse trainer in his home country of Ireland.
He had travelled over to England on 14 June 2025 as he was due to start work at Adrian Keatley’s racing stables in Malton two days later.
In a statement read to the inquest, Mr Keatley said he and Mr Mulryan went for a drink at the Spotted Cow in Malton on the Sunday evening.
They had a good time together and Mr Mulryan left about 10pm. He was due to start work at 7am the following day.
He had drunk “four or five pints of Guinness”. When Mr Keatley left the pub to walk home, he didn’t see Mr Mulryan’s VW Passat and assumed he had driven away from the pub.
“He did not appear to be drunk at all and was still quite with it,” Mr Keatley said.
The inquest heard from a couple who had been driving back to their holiday lodge in Malton that night.
At about 11.45pm on Sunday, 15 June, they were on the A169 approaching the A64 roundabout near Malton.
They said a car came towards them going the wrong way around the roundabout and collided with their Vauxhall Astra.
In a statement, the passenger said the driver of the other car, who spoke with an Irish accent, was “remarkably relaxed… making me think he he could have been intoxicated with something”. He then got back in his car and drove off on the A169 towards Pickering.
A police officer who had investigated this accident later came across a car on Marishes Lane near Yedingham “which appeared to have been set alight and burnt out”.
The location was close to Mr Mulryan’s digs. This was at 4.30am on 16 June.
Firefighters from Malton put out the lingering flames. The interior of the car was gutted and there were human remains in the driver’s seat.
An investigation by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service station manager Anna Atkinson-Spragg found that, in the balance of probabilities, the fire began when a cigarette set fire to combustible materials in the Passat.
These could have been the foam seats or fabric in the car.
The fire started in the footwell but the damage was so bad it was not possible to tell whether this was on the driver or passenger side, or at what time the fire started.
It was not possible to ascertain whether Mr Mulryan had been asleep.
A post mortem found Mr Mulryan died of smoke inhalation, and the level of alcohol in his blood was “just over the legal limit” for driving in England.
In his conclusion coroner Mr Leach said “it would appear he was driving back to his digs when he was involved in a a road traffic collision”.
Mr Mulryan then drove the short distance to Marishes Lane “where he would appear to have parked up”.
There was “no direct evidence as to how the fire started or whether Hugh was asleep at the time”. He was declared dead at 7.30am.
Mr Leach concluded that Mr Mulryan’s death was an accident.
Tributes to a ‘top fella’
Hugh Mulryan, from Oranmore, County Galway, was the son of racehorse owner-breeder Liam Mulryan.
Before coming to England, Hugh worked with trainers Denis Hogan and Sir Mark Prescott, as well as Baroda Stud in Kildare.
A spokesperson for Baroda Stud said Mr Mulryan was “a great chap” and “very smart”.
In a tribute in the Racing Post, Denis Hogan said: “He was a top fella with a very bright future. He studied law in between horses, was very sharp and had bought a few winners for me lately.
“He was very keen on racing. He could have done anything he wanted, but was just so keen on horses. It’s just very sad for Liam and his wife Christina, and all the family. It’s hard to believe.
“Hugh just fitted in everywhere and made friends anywhere he went. He could fall into any company anywhere in the world. He’ll be sorely missed and is a big loss.”