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FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS Peter McNeil and Glen Stewart
Peter, a trainee pilot from Ayreshire, and Glen, a North Lincolnshire flying instructor, were both killed when the Cessna 310 they were flying crashed close to the village of Hotham, west of Hull, about 20 minutes after it had taken off from Humberside Airport.
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see information on deaths in 2006 Michael Foster
Michael died in a quad bike incident. He was last seen on 15 May and was found dead on 19 May. The inquest was held at the North Yorkshire Western District Coroner's court on 25 January 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
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see information on deaths in 2006 Geoffrey Stray
Geoffrey, a senior maintenance technician at Next Plc warehouse depot in South Elmshall, fell more than 40 feet when the platform he was standing on to repair a crane failed. The inquest was to be held at the West Yorkshire Eastern District Coroner's Court on a date yet to be set. Geoffrey' death was the second fatality at the depot. Glen Morgan died when he fell 20 feet in August 2000. Next Distribution was fined £250,000 over the death and ordered to pay up to £40,000 prosecution costs.
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John Morton
John Morton
was working on drainage at a building site at Upwell Street, Grimesthorpe,
run by TG Beighton Ltd. A 10 ft deep trench collapsed, burying him and another
man, who was injured. A team of nine firefighters from Elm Lane and Darnall worked to rescue the pair by hauling away the mass of shale, bricks and stones. The inquest is to be held at the South Yorkshire West Coroner's Court on 3 October 2006 sitting in the Medico-Legal Centre, Sheffield.
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William Lax
William was killed by a bull at his farm at Carlton Grange, Aldbrough St John, near Richmond. The inquest was held at North Yorkshire Western District Coroner's Court on 25 January 2005 when a verdict of 'Misadventure' was returned.
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see information on deaths in 2006 John Ferneyhough
John was killed while operating a crane to lift a digger onto the back of a transporter in Ryegate Road, Tapton, Sheffield. He was working for the Barnsley construction firm where he had been a lorry driver for four years. The digger was being used on a housing construction site. John, who was working alone at the time of the accident, was preparing to move it for the weekend. The chains lifting the digger broke away and it fell, crushing him to death at the scene, despite emergency services arriving within minutes. The inquest was held at South Yorkshire West Coroner's Court on 17 February 2006 and returned a narrative verdict. The jury at the Medico-Legal centre in Sheffield recorded that the accident, in all probability, was as a result of thread deterioration in the hook that the lifting chains were attached to. They went on to suggest that it was most likely that this deterioration was caused by a previous 'pull through' of the nut and hook shank, through previous overloading. Coroner Mr Christopher Dorries told the court that he would write to the HSE about maintenance regimes for this type of machinery and he also said he was going to write a letter to E. J. Lister & Sons Ltd about his concerns. Mr Dorries went onto explain that he did not wish to see Mr Lister up before him again in the court, and continued that as Coroner he would be there for some time. David Urpeth, a partner with national law firm Irwin Mitchell, based at its offices in Riverside, Sheffield represented Mr Ferneyhough's family at the inquest. He said, 'Mr Ferneyhough's fatal accident was one of the most tragic cases that we have ever encountered and the inquest has dealt with many of the questions the family had regarding the circumstances surrounding John's death although some questions will remain unanswered. The Ferneyhough family would like to thank all the witnesses who assisted by providing their contributions towards the investigation. 'This tragic case highlights the need for stringent safety measures to be in place in the construction industry and emphasised the importance of regular checks on lifting equipment to ensure that all workers are protected while carrying out their duties. I hope the insurers of E J Lidster and Sons Ltd will now bring a swift conclusion to the civil claim given that liability has been admitted by them.' Mrs Janice Ferneyhough, John's widow said, 'I am disappointed by the verdict as I was hoping that the coroner would allow the jury to consider a finding of unlawful killing. However I am grateful to the jury for their detailed findings.'
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see information on deaths in 2006 Nicholas Shone
Nicholas suffocated after climbing into a chemical tank to retrieve a four-foot length of hosepipe. Nicholas was discovered slumped at the bottom of an empty 20ft chemical reactor at Grosvenor Chemicals in Linthwaite where he was working a night shift. The inquest was held at West Yorkshire Western District Coroner's Court from 10 July to 14 2006. The inquest heard that the tank had been used for mixing chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry and was full of nitrogen gas. Health and Safety Executive investigator Neil Martin told the jury he believed Nicholas had taken a risk without knowing all the facts. He added, 'In my opinion he took a calculated risk in the light of the knowledge he had. He may not have appreciated the risk of a low oxygen environment." Coroner Roger Whittaker asked Mr Martin if Nicholas would have realised the tank would have been `oxygen deprived'. Mr Martin said, 'He would have been aware it was a nitrogen atmosphere because of the nature of the process of working with flammable vapours. It is a routine process to keep the vessel inert with a nitrogen atmosphere.' 'Maybe he believed he could do it just by holding his breath. But we shall never know,' he added. The inquest also heard from the head of personal and protective equipment section of the HSE's laboratory. Dr Nicholas Vaughan said he had received two items for examination as a result of Nicholas's death. These were an Arco Filtermax 2 gas mask and a Tornado respirator. Dr Vaughan said the Arco mask would keep out the chemicals, such as solvent ==== and acetic acid, which were in the tank. He also said that despite the full-face mask having a broken strap and scratches the filter part of the equipment would have worked. In the Tornado respirator, which pumps air to a face-mask from a waist-mounted filter unit, he discovered an outlet valve had been kept open at all times with tissue. This mask was also working. But he added, 'No filtering device can protect against oxygen deficiency. Dr Vaughan said the air inside the tank had only 12% oxygen 12 hours after the incident. The normal oxygen level in air is just under 21%. When asked by the coroner whether the level of oxygen at the time of the accident could be virtually nothing, he replied, 'It could.' Dr Vaughan said the maximum theoretical time Nicholas could have been alive in the tank was three minutes. But he said that the body recognises carbon dioxide as a problem for breathing - not nitrogen. He said Nicholas would just have collapsed. When asked by lawyer Stephen Glover, for Grosvenor, how quickly it could have been Dr Vaughan agreed it was likely that it was less than a minute. He added, 'Just a couple of breaths and out.' A verdict of Misadventure was returned. Speaking after the inquest Nicholas's wife Andrea she believed all companies should now inform their workers on the dangers of nitrogen. She added, 'If one person hears this and prevents a death Nick did not die in vain. 'It does not feel right that my children have been robbed of their father and his mum and dad no longer have their special son. His friends will never see him and he will be missed by all who knew him.' She also thanked the emergency services for their efforts to rescue her husband on the night of his death. In the inquest the coroner Mr Whittaker said if Mr Shone had followed a permit system - a checklist carried out before entering small spaces - he may well have still been alive. He said, 'There must be some comfort for those who devised the permit system for confined space entry that if Nicholas had followed the rules they would have protected him and that the overriding of the rules by a long-standing employee was totally out of character and therefore was not and could not have been anticipated. No one, least of all Nicholas Shone, had ever flouted the rules before in the context of this particular tragedy. It could not have been foreseen or prevented.'
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Clifford Colling
Clifford died after entering an enclosure where his deer were kept during the rutting season. When he failed to return two concerned colleagues went to look for him and found his body, apparently gored by a stag. The stag also attacked them and had eventually to be shot by a police marksman. The inquest was held at North Yorkshire Eastern District Coroner's Court on 10 January 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Hugh Rose, of the British Deer Society, said attacks on humans were quite common and farmers were aware of the dangers. He said, 'It happens every year. Farmers are well aware of the risks of entering an enclosure during the rutting season. The stags stop eating and their testosterone levels shoot through the roof. They become very frustrated and very aggressive and take it out on trees and bushes, anything that's in their way. The problem is that for the rest of the year, the stags are big gormless lumps you can stroke on the head and feed carrots to. Then they transform into these mad animals, foaming at the mouth, who are trying to kill each other. I think perhaps farmers forget their docile friends can turn on them too. They are extremely unreliable and dangerous animals." Mr Rose reminded farmers that they should only enter deer enclosures in a vehicle during the breeding season, which runs from the end of September to late October.
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