Road accident claims lives of Bellingen restaurant owner and her head chef
A Bellingen restaurant owner and her head chef have died after their SUV crashed into a tree just outside town.
Jessica Boardman and James Golding died at the scene early Tuesday morning. The car crash also killed young mother Bobbi Howell.
Boardman was the owner of Bellingen’s Smoke and Barrels restaurant, which she opened last May last year after running a catering business in the area since 2017.
Golding previously worked at her previous venture, the Diggers Tavern Bistro, before heading the kitchen at Smoke and Barrels.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, local resident Eli, who works at the Purple Carrot cafe next door, described them as “lovely people who were trying to do good things for the town”.
Boardman leaves behind her husband Tom Sheridan.
The cause of the accident is still being investigated, but Chief Inspector Brendan Gorman said the road was dry at the time of the crash.
“There were 21 death across the Coffs-Clarence district last year, police are really making a lot of effort in regard to reducing the road toll,” he said.
Sheridan Randall, 22nd January 2020
