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Deaths in 2001
Deaths in 2002
Click on the names below for further case details
Click on the names below for further case details
FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS Christopher Leak
Christopher, a mechanic was killed when a coach he was sent to recover rolled backward and crushed him. Christopher and his senior Steve Bolton had taken a recovery vehicle to the scene where Christopher was asked to crawl under the coach notwithstanding the fact that no safety chocks were in place and the coach was parked on a 5% gradient. Additionally there was an intermittent fault on the brakes of the recovery vehicle which was not deemed to be in a condition to perform tasks. Prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, Steve Flanagan said Christopher had no qualifications in vehicle recovery and the company had failed to provide the necessary training. He added if there had been effective supervision of Christopher they would have seen that the chocks had been removed. The inquest was held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court on 22 January 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In August 2003 Leon's was fined £15,000 for failure to ensure the safety of its employees, £3,000 for having no risk assessment and was also ordered to pay £3,763.64 in costs by Mid-Staffordshire Magistrates after the company pleaded guilty. After the Magistrates' sentencing Christopher's family expressed anger at the time it had taken to bring the employers to court and at the meagre fine imposed.
Joseph, of Grange Farm in Bramshall, Uttoxeter, was crushed to death after he was run over by a trailer being pulled by a reversing tractor while working as a banksman at Ivetsey Road, Wheaton Aston. His work involved making sure the road surface was clean and making vehicles aware of dangers during road widening work. The inquest was held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court on 19 June 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. JDM Accord Ltd, of Bridge Road East, Welwyn Garden City, were fined a total of £100,000 and ordered to pay £32,183 in costs, by Stafford Crown Court, on Friday 5 March 2004. HSE Principal Construction Inspector, Joy Jones, said after the case, 'The risk to 'banksmen' from reversing vehicles is well known and has to be properly controlled. Banksmen are often used as the first or only line of protection for pedestrians from reversing vehicles, instead of proper precautions being implemented to eliminate or reduce reversing and providing visibility aids such as CCTV and mirrors. There were many elements which contributed to this accident, but the 'safe sight, safe vehicle, safe drivers' message certainly had not been acted on."
Mark Worrallo
Mark, a delivery driver for RMD a subsidiary for Interserve, was crushed to death while unloading a consignment of shuttering timber and steel supports at the Seedy Mill water treatment works near Lichfield. The incident happened at 8.30am at the sewerage works at Elmhurst. Mark, employed by Walsall-based distributor RMD Kwikform, suffered his fatal injuries when he and two other workmen attempted to unload steel girders, shuttering and heavy timber from the lorry by crane. Paramedics were called to the scene, and after carrying out emergency procedures, Mark was airlifted to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. He died about an hour later from severe head and chest injuries. Principal contractor Purac subcontracted RMD to the job at the treatment plant, where an extension wass being built to the existing works. The inquest
was held at South Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 19 November 2002.
A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Anthony, a window cleaner, died after falling off a ladder on 28 January 2002 while cleaning a first floor window during very gusty conditions. He was taken to North Staffordshire Hospital where he died three days later. The inquest was held at Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 4 March 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. David Jenkins
David, a worker at a concrete building product manufacturing company, was killed outright when a four-ton set of concrete steps toppled on him. A company employee claimed there was no risk assessment for storing staircases on their edges or the danger of toppling as this risk was not identified as high. The inquest was held at South Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 16 September 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Bison Concrete Products was fined £100,000 for failure to ensure the safety of its employees and was also ordered to pay £12,000 in costs after admitting the offence.The company had three previous convictions in other parts of the UK - including two fatal accidents - for which it was fined a total of £79,000 between May 1997 and December 2001, Stafford Crown Court was told. John Cooper, prosecuting, said, 'Mr Jenkins was pedantic about safety and took care, great care, for his safety. He was carrying out remedial work on the staircase when another fell over, striking the one he was working on and he received crushing injuries and was killed outright.'
William Hunter
William, the driver of a car transporter lorry, was killed when a car fell off the transporter and crushed him. The inquest was held at Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 17 July 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Paul, a worker from Warstones in Wolverhampton, died at New Cross Hospital. He stopped to light up a cigarette and the van he was in caught fire. It could possibly be self harm as he had petrol all over him. The inquest was held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court on 5 June 2003. An 'Open' verdict was returned.
Linda, a worker in the firm Deep Arch at Rugeley, was carrying out a cleaning job at a height on 20 March 2003 when it was suspected she was overcome by trichloroethylene fumes and fell. She was badly burned and died in hospital on 2 April 2003. The inquest was held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court on 4 November 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned. Gareth Naylor
Gareth, a pallet maker, died from a brain haemorrhage following a slight bang on his head when he bent down to pick up a hammer on 14 April 2003. Gareth was not aware he suffered from high blood pressure which caused the bleeding on the brain and had not mentioned the bump or recorded it in the firm's accident book. He collapsed and died in hospital on 23 April 2003. The inquest was held at Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 5 August 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was recorded. Ronald Wilson
Ronald, a HGV driver from Uttoxeter, was killed when a mobile crane he was unloading from a low loader transporter toppled and fell on him. The inquest was held at South Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 5 November 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned. Matthew Clark
Matthew was valeting a vehicle when it fell on him. He survived but died later after making many visits to hospital. The date of the incident and circumstances are unclear. The inquest was held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court on 6 November 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned. John Camplin
John, a roadworker, was killed on the A511 Tutbury Road near Beamhill when he was crushed against his Volvo HGV road maintenance vehicle by a Vauxhall Corsa driven by a 79 year old man from Hilton. The Health and Safety Executive took the view that it was predominantly a road traffic accident, saying that at the time of the collision John had stopped his lorry in order to clean the tar pipes by running some diesel through them. The inquest held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court on 18 March 2004 returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'. Sergeant Geoff Knight of Burton police said, 'It seems Mr Camplin was at the rear of his works truck when a vehicle collided with him. At the scene, a local resident who is a nurse, attended and gave medical attention until paramedics arrived.'
Grant Meyrcik
Grant, a bricklayer, died in the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham two weeks after sustaining severe abdominal injuries when he was crushed and trapped between a tractor and a silo mortar system on a building site in Trentham. The principal contractor on the site was Taylor Woodrow. Grant underwent several operations, but after a major artery was damaged, he never recovered from injuries to his pancreas, liver and spleen. The inquest was held at Stoke on Trent and North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court on 1 February 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The hearing was told how the vehicle driven by groundworker Alex Page skidded and crushed Grant. The inquest heard also from Dominic Swan, an inspector with the Health and Safety Executive, who examined the tractor. he said the vehicle, which had a maximum speed of 13.4mph, had numerous faults but none which he thought would have contributed to what happened. Mark Jones
Mark worked for a construction company, A & E Buildings of Knighton. He died in Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham following a 30 ft fall from a 'telescopic materials handler' i.e. a platform which was 'home made', attached to a forklift truck, while constructing a farm building on 28 February 2004. Mark and a friend, Adam Waygood 21, were erecting the steel frame for a barn roof when the truck toppled over into trees. Adam escaped with leg injuries. The police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) conducted a joint investigation which led to the prosecution of Wayne Davies the owner of A & E Buildings. Wayne Davis was convicted of Mark's manslaughter after a three week trial in Birmingham Crown Court in October 2005. He was sentenced in January 2006 to 18 months imprisonment. The trial heard that the two workers were not provided with any safety harnesses although they were working up to 30 feet high. A former employee also told the court that he was sacked because he refused to work at height with no safety equipment. This same employee told the court that he heard Mark ask for harnesses or safety nets - but none were provided while he was employed. Mark's wife also had raised concern about safety directly with Wayne Davies. The trial heard evidence that there were faults on a fork lift vehicle used by the workers. The vehicle's axle lock-out system was not working, the steering was very heavy, and a weight overload alert system was out of order. The jury heard evidence that Davies’s working practices and equipment were unsafe and that employees were exposed to numerous health and safety risks. They concluded Davies was grossly negligent in his duties and was therefore responsible for Mark's death. The senior policeman in charge of the inquiry into Mark's death said Davies had shown ‘total contempt’ for the safety of his employees. Detective Inspector Bob Titley hit out at Davies’s conduct both before the accident and also during his subsequent trial, saying, 'Wayne Davies showed total contempt for the safety of his employees and ignored HSE and construction industry guidelines for the workplace. He also dismissed concerns raised by Mr Jones’ wife about her husband’s working conditions before his death.' In May 2006 Appeal court judges upheld the manslaughter conviction and sentence. Judge Sir Michael Wright, who dismissed Davies' challenge at London's Criminal Appeal Court, described the machinery as 'lethal and dangerous'. Sir Michael - sitting with Lord Justice Auld and Mr Justice Gibbs - said the machine had a 'plethora of faults'. The court also heard that Mark's widow was unlikely to receive any compensation as Davies had possessed no employers' liability insurance. Sir Michael said of Davies, 'His total disregard for the safety of his workmen calls for punishment of an exemplary nature.'.
Glynn Thompson
Glynn died after falling into an offal pit and being overcome by fumes at John Poyntons and Sons animal rendering plant in Cheddleton. Another worker Ivan Torr fell into the pit and Glynn followed him in when he failed to reappear. Ivan recovered after a two week stay in hospital but Glynn died two days after the incident. Charges of manslaughter were made against the the director of the firm Carl Poynton and others, including the company which is charged with corporate manslaughter. Glynn had been lowered into the pit on a crane manned by Mr Pointon. In May 2007 Carl Pointon and John Pointon and Sons were cleared of Glynn's manslaughter at Stafford Crown Court. The firm had already been found guilty of health and safety charges. The company admitted breaching two health and safety rules but denied two others. In July 2007 the firm was fined £700,000 when it was convicted of four counts of breaching health and safety laws at the Crown Court. The case was brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). In mitigation, the firm said its health and safety had been poor but had since changed beyond recognition. After the hearing Det Con Chris Short of Staffordshire Police said it had all been avoidable, 'If the company had put in place the adequate health and safety measures that were required then this would not have happened,' he said. HSE spokesman Graham Barnes said he hoped other companies would learn lessons from the case and realise the importance of effective health and safety management.
David Pennington and Martin Oates
David and Martin were killed after they were hit by a rail maintenance vehicle as they carried out maintenance work on a railway line near Cannock. A further four men were taken to Staffordshire General Hospital suffering severe shock. The inquest was to be held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court. No date has yet been set. In November 2007 it was announced that after an investigation by British Transport Police, three of David and Martin's colleagues, who were also injured in the incident, have been charged with health and safety offences. John Brady and David Jones have been charged with endangering the public by a wilful omission, neglect or improper use of a rail vehicle. They are both also accused of failing to ensure the health and safety of themselves and their colleagues while at work. A third man, Wayne Brigden, is also accused of health and safety breaches. Network Rail and Carrillion Rail are also accused of health and safety breaches. All defendants were to appear at Cannock Magistrates Court on February 7 2008.
Ivan Babb
Ivan was found dead at the Sandmaster depot in Hixon near Stafford after being fatally struck by a skip delivery vehicle when he was taking rubbish into the depot's yard. The inquest was to be held at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court. In May 2006 Sandmaster Ltd was fined £20,000 and costs of £4,500 at Stafford Magistrates' Court, after pleading guilty to a breach of health and safety legislation. The case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), followed their investigation into Ivan's death. Speaking after the case HSE investigating inspector Andrew Bowker said, 'This was a tragic accident which could have been avoided. Companies have a duty to ensure that appropriate safety measures are implemented to prevent injuries and pointless deaths such as this. It is vital that site and depot managers carry out a risk assessment to identify potential dangers to workers and put adequate solutions in place. 'HSE is warning site and depot managers of the risks posed to workers from workplace transport - 10 people in the West Midlands region were killed last year. It doesn't take a lot of organisation or money to put measures in place which can make a difference to people's working environment and even save lives.'
Phillip Waites
Phillip was working as a contractor at J H and C J Williams farm in Alrewas near Burton-on-Trent. He fell from a box used as part of the access equpment on a fork lift truck and died after suffering severe head injuries. The inquest was held on 19 June 2006 at Staffordshire South Coroner’s Court and returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'. |
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