Deaths in 2003

Deaths in 2004

Deaths in 2003

Click on the names below for further case details

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Deaths in 2004

Click on the names below for further case details

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FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS

Martin Williams

Martin collapsed at a boat repairer's on 6 January and died two days later. The collapse was thought to relate to a previous incident, possibly not at work.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court on 9th May 2003 and returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'.

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Paul Russel

Paul, an employee of a demolition company, was killed when he fell from the cab of a JCB he was using for removal of a demolished building.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court on 23 March 2004 and returned a 'Narrative' verdict: 'Accident because the right hand cab window was missing'.

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Kyle Newell

Kyle was killed when a sling full of reinforced concrete blocks carried by an excavator fell onto him. He was working on a £160,000 project at Green Lane at the time. He was helping to build a water treatment works and two sewage overflows for the Severn Trent Water company. Work was due to be completed in March 2003.

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) official said normally there were six men working on the site but at the time of the incident there were only three. He said an excavator was lifting a large quantity of concrete on a sling. It slipped and dropped its load which hit Kyle on the head. He was taken to hospital but died shortly afterwards.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court on 9 March 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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Andrew Clinton

Andrew, a fireman, died a week after falling about 10ft off a hydraulic platform whilst demonstrating the use of equipment. He was taking part in a training exercise at Bournbrook Fire Station. Andrew suffered head and spinal injuries and died eight days later in hospital.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court on 10 September 23 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

The Health and Safety Executive did not find West Midlands Fire Service at fault, but it did ask that its safety procedures be reviewed.

Vijithandra Randeniya, the deputy chief fire officer at West Midlands Fire Service, said whatever is necessary to protect employees will be done.

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Deaths of Barry Greatrex and John Clarke

Barry and John were killed instantly when they were crushed by a 10ft by 6ft block of concrete at a Birmingham building site.

The two colleagues suffered broken backs when they were pinned down as they removed a floor at a £3 million apartment block scheme in Carver Street, Ladywood. Barry and John who both worked for the Tipton-based demolition firm HG Humphries, were discovered dead by colleague Shane Bird.

'I found them trapped by a large block of concrete and raised the alarm,' he said. 'People came to help immediately but it was obvious nothing could be done for them.'

Barry and John, part of a six-strong team working at the site, were removing a mezzanine floor to help create loft-style apartments when they were crushed. A team of 30 firefighters worked for 20 minutes to rescue them, but they could not be saved.

Shane Bird said he had no idea how the accident could have happened. His father, site foreman Colin Bird, said the two men were doing a routine job when they were killed.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court in July 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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Henry Raybould

Henry, the boss of his family run business in Gornal Wood, near Dudley was killed after being hit by a car that was being stolen from his garage forecourt.

Stuart Ferguson reversed into Henry and sped away as he lay dying from massive internal injuries outside the premises.

In January 2004 Stuart Ferguson was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment at Wolverhampton Crown Court after admitting manslaughter at a previous hearing.

Judge Frank Chapman said he accepted Ferguson had not intended to harm Henry and had shown remorse for his death after turning himself in to police.

Outside court, Henry's son, Paul, who was badly injured as he also tried to stop Ferguson driving away, read out a statement in which he said the family bore no hatred towards the killer. He said, 'Our original statement asking for forgiveness of Stuart Ferguson and his colleague still stands. We as a family do not feel any hatred towards the perpetrator. As we said before, we believe that there should be a punishment for all crimes and in this case it has been dealt with by the laws of this land.'

A 16-year-old youth from Tipton who was a passenger in the stolen car at the time of the Henry's death, was given a six-month detention and training order in December.

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Akhtar Zaman

Akhtar was fatally trapped by a steel gantry.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court. on 14January 200 when a verdict of 'Accident sustained at work' was returned.

In April 2006 Joseph Ash (Galvanizing) Limited was fined £150,000 and costs of £11,722 at Birmingham Crown Court, after pleading guilty to three breaches of health and safety legislation. The case was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following its investigation into Akhtar's death.

Judge Michael Challinor said Akhtar had been employed to place metal girders into a solution in order to give them a zinc coating. Before that, he said, Akhtar had to manoeuvre a 3.8 tonne girder using a crane. While manoeuvring the metal it toppled over, crushing Akhtar against the crane.

The judge said, 'The system within which he was required to work was seriously deficient. There was no plan for safe dealing with heavy items, such as girders, and no method of risk assessment. There was a climate in place where Akhtar thought he could act alone and carry out lifting operations as he saw fit. This resulted in an accident waiting to happen.'

The judge said Joseph Ash was a well established company that has contributed significantly to the economy and that since the accident it had improved the system. He also accepted there had not been any flagrant breach of regulations to increase profits.

Speaking after the case, HSE investigating inspector Sarah Hilling-McCann said:

'Companies need to ensure that appropriate safety measures and safe systems of work are implemented to prevent this happening again and to provide a safe working environment.

'Those managing lifting operations need to provide those working with lifting equipment with sufficient information, instruction and supervision to allow them to sufficiently plan and carry out their work in a safe manner, to ensure that safety measures are implemented, and once implemented, that they are maintained appropriately.

'Akhtar Zaman was not given sufficient information about the load he was moving and was operating lifting equipment which was not correctly marked or identified.'

Joseph Ash Ltd pleaded guilty to a breach of: Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Section 2(1); Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, Regulation 23 and Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 Regulation 7(c).

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Mohammed 'Buder' Iqbal

Buder, a security guard, was found dead on a construction site in the Hall Green area having been overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning caused by fumes from a petrol generator.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's Court on 12 July 2004 and returned a 'Narrative' verdict. The verdict by the jury of eight said, 'Mohammed Buder Iqbal was found dead whilst working as an untrained part-time security guard.'

The inquest jury was told that the showhome where Buder died had no mains electricity and that a petrol generator, used to power a floodlight, had been on all night and was near the security guard's body. The level of carbon monoxide in Buder's blood was greater than 80 per cent.

Speaking after the inquest Buder's brother Mubeen, who represented the family in court, said, 'We are considering pursuing a case against Omega 247 Security Ltd in the civil courts. We are waiting to hear what the Health and Safety Executive have to say before we decide.'

Buder, a computer studies student at Solihull College, was working part-time at the Maypole Housing Development in Priory Road, Hall Green. The inquest heard he was employed by Omega 247 Security to keep vandals and troublemakers away from the site.

But the company insisted he was not one of their guards. Omega director Robin Tucker said, 'Buder was a sub-contractor. If he was one of our guards he would have been trained.'

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Michael Majcherczyk

Michael, was working at Strimech Engineering in Longmore Avenue, Bentley. An earth mover bucket which was suspended by a crane crushed Michael against a metal partition. He died several hours later in hospital.

An inquest took place at Walsall Coroner's Court on 21 April 2005 when a verdictof 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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John, a decorator, died after falling 45 feet down a lift shaft at Walsgrave Hospital.

John was an experienced industrial painter who had been self-employed for over a decade when he won a contract to work at the hospital's new site, off Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry, and had been doing the job for several weeks before the fatal incident.

An inquest took place at Coventry Coroner's Court on 1 December 2004 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

Coroner David Sarginson presided at the inquest at Coventry Magistrates Court and heard that John probably fell from the third floor, and died instantly. John had been working on the shaft with his son Nick, and was spray-painting walls before the lift gear was installed.

Det Sgt Martin Lawrence inspected the site, operated by construction firm Skanska, along with Alex Nayar from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Nick Broome, who was working elsewhere when the accident happened, said, 'My father usually used a harness, but there were no eye-bolts to attach it to. He was always careful - I'd only ever once seen him work without one.'

Mark O'Dowd, safety adviser at the site, said painting lifts was always a two-man job, and workers were not supposed to be in the empty shaft, but behind a 3ft gate.

HSE specialist inspector Robert Blogg said, 'The protective gates were up to legal standard, but I don't consider them as satisfactory because they had no bolts. And there was no satisfactory way to anchor harnesses, which begs the question: why did he have it with him.'

The HSE confirmed that it would issue a report next year.

The coroner said, 'It was a terrible disaster, especially for Mr Broome's wife and family. It was a dangerous job, but Mr Broome was properly trained. Perhaps he shouldn't have been working on his own, or on the lift side of the gate, but HSE will be looking at it much more closely.'

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Clifford, was the company owner of Melford Construction, Willenhall, carrying out refurbishment work at Eileen Mason Photos, Lichfield Road, Walsall. Clifford was killed when he fell from a vehicle.

An inquest took place at Walsall Coroner's Court on 22 June 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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Jeff, a sub-contractor for Walsall Based Wedge-wood Construction and Joinery, died whilst working on a new JD Wetherspoon pub in Stourbridge. He was crushed when a wall and scaffolding collpased on him. Apparently, workmen had been moving a portable tower and it knocked into the wall causing it to collapse.

An inquest is to take place at Dudley Coroner's Court. No date has yet been set.

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Michael, an employee of a sub-contractor Haden Drysus who install and maintain equipment, was killed while working on a vehicle wash on the production line at the Land Rover factory in Lode Lane.

Land Rover said equipment was being installed at the time.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's court on 12 May 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

On 16 May 2007 in an adjournment debate held in Westminster Hall Michael Clapham, Labour MP for Barnsley West & Penistone included in his contribution the following references to Michael's death:

'Because of the way in which working practices are arranged in the construction industry—it is a complex pattern—some companies, usually subcontracting companies, have been known to go into liquidation to avoid prosecutions by the Health and Safety Executive and to avoid paying compensation. I draw the attention of the House to the recent case of Michael Parr. It involved a company that went into liquidation to avoid a fine from the HSE and to avoid paying the widow compensation. In August 2004 Michael Parr, aged 54, was fatally injured in an accident on the Land Rover site at Coventry. He was working for a company called Haydens which was doing subcontract work for the main contractor on the site. Following an investigation the HSE made it known that it intended to prosecute the company. To avoid prosecution, and presumably to avoid paying compensation to the widow, the company went into liquidation. The case was then brought against the main contractor, but because that contractor disputed liability it was finally dropped.'

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David, a construction worker, was killed when a van in which he was sitting was crushed as a 25-ton tipper truck toppled over on a building site.

The incident happened at the site of a £330,000 extension of Gornal Wood crematorium in Coopers Bank Road in Dudley. The driver of the van managed to scramble free from the wreckage and suffered shock but was not injured.

An inquest took place at Dudley Coroner's Court on 19 January 2006 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

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David, a steward at Aston Villa Football Club, suffered serious injuries and a broken arm during trouble between rival fans at a Carling Cup football match on the the 22nd September 2004. He died a few weeks later in hospital.

An inquest took place at Birmingham and Solihull Coroner's court on 28 October 2005 when an 'Open' verdict was returned.

In December 2005 an undercover investigation by the Birmingham Sunday Mercury's suggested top Premiership teams were skimping on safety to save cash and told how Aston Villa was failing to vet, check or train their stewards properly, putting both them and fans at risk.

The Mercury's investigation report went on:

'The Carling Cup game had been officially classed as 'police free' by cops - meaning there were no officers inside the ground whatsoever. The match itself was a tame affair ...

But stewards working that night remember how, as the final whistle drew near, signs of trouble were already evident. More than 100 QPR fans had made their way to the exits of the Lower North Stand, where away fans are seated, seemingly on their way home after a defeat. In fact, they were waiting for Villa supporters to leave - setting up a pitched battle outside the stadium.

"I remember seeing the fans leaving," one senior Villa steward told our undercover reporter. "Then we were called to go out-side. Trouble had started and there were two to three makeshift lines of us (stewards) trying to keep the two sets of fans apart. We tried to link arms, because we thought that would make us more difficult to get through. But it didn't have much effect at all. To be honest, we were really lucky it was not a lot worse. There were bottles and bricks flying everywhere. It's amazing that no-one else was injured. I remember going into it thinking 'I hope to God things don't get worse than this' as it all began.

"But then I heard David had died. Things had just got worse. A lot worse."

It remains one of the key unanswered questions of that tragic night as to why any stewards were called outside the ground at all. Once they had left the stadium, their meagre powers had disappeared.

As we revealed last week, most new stewards begin work at Villa with barely any training whatsoever. But even experienced staff had not been taught the kind of skills which would have equipped them to deal with a full-scale riot. Yet somewhere in Villa's safety command chain someone took the decision to send stewards to do the police's job.

Just who made that decision remains unclear - but it turned out to be an horrific mistake.'

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