Corporation of London under Scrutiny at Inquest into death of OAP in Park

An 84-year-old North London man's daily walk in his local park ended in tragedy, when a heavy goods vehicle, on park business, reversed into him in March last year.

Ben Glass was taking a stroll on a pedestrian path in Golders Hill Park in London on 10 March 2003 when the incident occurred. The injuries were fatal.

The jury inquest into the incident will take place on Wednesday 28 January at St. Pancras Coroner’s Court, starting at 10am.

Ben's daughter and son - Celia and Martin Glass - are attending the Inquest, and will be available for comment afterwards.

The CCA's 'Work-Related Death Advice Service' has provided assistance to Martin and Celia Glass - Ben's children - in relation to investigation and prosecution issues arising out of their father's death.

“Our father, Ben, was enjoying his regular walk in Golders Hill Park, on the edge of Hampstead Heath, on the sunny afternoon of March 10th last year when he was tragically killed.

"He was walking towards the park exit on his way to Finchley Road to catch his bus home, when he was violently knocked over and dragged along the ground by a 17 tonne lorry on park business.

"Although he was 84 years of age, our father was in relatively good health and was a peaceful man of habit. His greatest pleasure in life was walking in parks and Golders Hill Park was in fact his favourite. How tragic then that his life has been cut short in this way.

"What we want to know at the Inquest is why was the lorry reversing along a pedestrian lane despite a restricted rear view, and with no banks-man to act as a look-out?

"And why did the park authorities allow Heavy Goods Vehicles in the park despite the lack of facilities to reverse or to exit by another route?

"So far, we have received no letter of sympathy, let alone an apology from the park owners, the Corporation of London.

"We believe the Local Authorities, the Corporation of London and Royal Parks must urgently review their public safety responsibilities to esnure that no-one else is killed or injured so needlesly.

"In our view it is wrong that vehicles should be allowed to move along shared pathways without deliberate separation from the public.

"Our father's death should be wake-up call to everyone involved in using and running parks in London and elsewhere. There are other parks throughout London which have vehicles using them - for example there is a busy road through Richmond park and a car park in the middle of Greenwich park.

Recently, the Hampsted Heath open spaces, which includes this park in Golders Hill, won the prestigious 2003-2004 Green Flag Award from the Civic Trust, for "excellence in maintenance, management etc". We want to know whether it was to achieve such awards that the safety of the public has been compromised ?

Ben is dead now and we miss him dearly, but we want to make sure he didn't die in vain. Ours is a very personal tragedy, but the public should be aware that a incident like this could still occur. A small child playing in the park at the time would have been even more vulnerable. And we want something done about it. "

Celia and Martin Glass will be available for interview at the end of the inquest.

At the inquest the family is being represented by Hodge, Jones and Allen solicitors

St Pancras Coroner's Court is located at Camley St, London WC1.

Contact Details