Singer ‘Black’ died of head injuries

The singer-songwriter Colin Vearncombe, who had a huge hit in the 1980s with ‘Wonderful Life’, suffered fatal head injuries after his car skidded on an icy road, and crashed into another car, in Cork on January 10, an inquest confirmed yesterday.

A jury at Cork City Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of accidental death, after hearing details of the accident, which occurred near Cork Airport.

Mr Vearncombe, 53, who lived at Caherlusky, Schull, in West Cork, and who recorded as ‘Black’, died 16 days later, on January 26, in Cork University Hospital (CUH).