Stuntman died filming Batman car chase

A special effects technician was killed shooting a stunt for Batman sequel The Dark Knight, an inquest heard today.

Conway Wickliffe, 41, was riding in the back seat of a Nissan 4x4 when the car crashed into a tree at 20mph. He had been leaning out of the window and operating a camera, which was shooting a stunt car travelling parallel to his vehicle.

The father-of-two, originally from New Zealand, suffered severe injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene at the QinetiQ site at Longcross near Chertsey, Surrey.

A jury sitting at Woking Coroners Court for the two-day inquest heard that a crew were filming a test run for a scene in which the Batmobile is blown up. The Nissan, driven by another special effects technician, Bruce Monroe-Armstrong, failed to make the 90 degree turn required at the end of its run, and hit a tree.

Ian Lowe, prep supervisor for the stunt, told the inquest that the rest of the crew thought it had gone according to plan until "Bruce came running around the corner". A fellow crew member, Ian Mitchell, said he watched the 4x4 reach the end of the run but carry on into the grass.

He added: "Instead of turning on to the service road it carried on and I saw it impact the tree. It appeared to be a glancing blow." He said he ran over and found Wickliffe "in a bad way".

Wickliffe was an experienced stunt technician who had worked on a string of big budget hits, including Batman Begins, Children of Men and the James Bond films Casino Royale and Die Another Day. He was commemorated in the closing credits of The Dark Knight, which read: "In memory of our friends Heath Ledger and Conway Wickliffe".

Wickliffe's death was the first in a number of incidents that led to talk of a so-called "Curse of Batman". Heath Ledger, 28, who played The Joker in the film, died of an accidental drugs overdose in January, shortly after filming was completed. Christian Bale, who starred as Batman, was accused of assaulting his mother and sister the day before the film's UK premiere, while co-star Morgan Freeman suffered serious injuries in a car crash in Mississippi in August.

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