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Deaths in 2001
Deaths in 2001
Back to Top Deaths in 2002
FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS
Roland Bissett
Roland, a farmworker, was crushed by a tree he was felling while coppicing wood. The inquest was held at Essex (Harlow) Coroner’s Court on 7 August 2001. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Agnes Butler
Agnes, a patient at a care home, died of diamorphine poisoning. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 14 March 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Nicola Dordoy
Nicola, a patient with a history of depression, was found hanged in her bedroom at the Linden Centre, a mental health unit. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 2 October 2002 and returned an 'Open' verdict. Roger Mann
Roger, a self-employed worker, died after falling from a ladder on a farm. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 16 April 2002. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Tony Clowes
Tony, a nine year old, died of oxygen starvation caused by a blocked airtube while undergoing an operation to have a finger stitched on after an accident. The blockage in the pipe starved Tony of oxygen as he was being prepared for surgery, but operating theatre staff were unaware of the problem at the time. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court in May 2003 and the inquest jury returned a unanimous verdict of 'Accidental Death', 'contributed to by system neglect'. In January 2006 at Ipswich Crown Court, Mid Essex NHS Hospitals Trust was fined £30,000 for failing to ensure Tony's safety and ordered to pay £10,000 in costs In the case brought by the Health and Safety Executive on Tuesday, the Mid Essex NHS Hospitals Trust pleaded guilty to breaking safety rules.
Lee Hansford
Lee, leaving work on a motorcycle, died after colliding with a mobile crane. Any inquest would be held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court.
Dean Butler
Dean, a minor, was crushed to death on a quarry conveyor belt after suffering multiple injuries while working on the crushing machine with his brother Danny, 21. He had started work at the quarry three days earlier. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court in September 2003 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In September 2003 Lewis Courtney and James Holland (who had denied involvement in the death) and their company, Clearserve Ltd, were cleared of Dean's manslaughter at Chelmsford Crown Court. Mr Courtney and Mr Holland and Clearserve Ltd were convicted of two breaches of health and safety legislation. They were fined £39,750. Basildon MP Angel Smith said the court's decision was a 'deeply worrying' contradiction. She said, 'The bottom line is that the company's breaches of health and safety legislation were contributing actors to the young man's death. There has got to be serious questions asked about the guidance given by the judge.'
Franky Vanhondeghem and Peter Coopman
Franky and Peter, seamen from Ostend on a Belgian fishing trawler (Flamingo) out of Zeebrugge, were killed when the trawler capsized off the Essex coast. From a crew complement of four, two bodies remained to be recovered. The
inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 2 December 2004 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Lee Balkwell
Lee was killed when his head was caught between the rotating drum of a concrete mixer and the vehicle chassis In August 2006 it was announced that the case of Lee's death was to be reinvestigated by police. The news of the reinvestigation followed a four year campaign by Lee's father Les Balkwell for an enquiry into his son's death. The campaign included sending letters and arranging meetings with police and Hornchurch MP James Brokenshire, who took up the case in 2005. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 5 February 2008 when a verdict of 'Unlawful Killing' was returned as a result of his boss's gross negligence. After the verdict a spokesman for Essex Police, who were heavily criticised by Les Balkwell for their handling of the case, said, 'We will now go back to the Health and Safety Executive before considering further submissions of case papers to the Crown Prosecution Service.'
Martin Turner
Martin, an employee of Waterers Landscapes contractors for Southend Council, was killed when his sit-on mower capsized on a slope crushing him. The grasscutter is believed to have toppled on a slope in Southchurch Hall Park, landing upside down on Martin. Five people passing the scene frantically attempted to lift the sit-down mower off Martin, and fire crews battled to keep him alive with emergency treatment. Martin died the next day in hospital from injuries sustained in the incident. The
inquest was held at Southend on Sea and SE Essex Coroner’s
Court on 7 March 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Terry Jupp
Terry, a chemist who was conducting an experiment at a Ministry of Defence site at Newlands Battery in Shoeburyness, received 60 to 90 per cent burns to his body when the experiment went wrong. He was airlifted to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford before being transferred to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital burns unit. Terry died of septicaemia from his injuries on August 20. Maurice Marshall who works at Fort Halstead for the Defence Science Technology Laboratory, is accused of causing Terry's death. The Government scientist is said to have ordered Terry to mix a 10kg charge of three chemicals, as part of joint British-American tests, but failed to warn him how dangerous it was. Following an investigation by the Ministry of Defence Police and the Health and Safety Executive, Marshall was charged over his death. He appeared at the Old Bailey on September 2005 and pleaded not guilty to gross negligence manslaughter. His trial was due to start on 4 September 2006. In September 2006 a new trial date was set for 16 April 2007 at the Old Bailey. Charges against Marshall's colleague Robert Weighill were dropped because of a lack of evidence. Explaining the decision to drop the charges, Gareth Patterson, prosecuting said, 'Things have recently changed. Further information has recently come into the possession of the Crown Prosecution Service. 'That information involves further evidence involving the results of a series of tests carried out by one of the prosecution witnesses.' Writing in the Observer on 18 March 2007 Antony Barnett said that it was understood Terry was involved in research looking at the composition of home-made fertiliser bombs used by Islamic terrorists. Antony Barnett added that sources believe that both the United States and British military authorities were concerned that, should the criminal case continue, highly sensitive information could have been released on the nature of the experiments being conducted. A CPS spokeswoman confirmed that the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, was involved in the decision not to continue with the case. But she added: 'The decision was taken by CPS lawyers based on new evidence that came to light. The decision not to continue the case was not down to a public interest argument.' An HSE spokesman said, 'The expectation is the file will now be sent to HSE for us to review the evidence.' The MoD has Crown immunity so cannot be prosecuted under health and safety legislation, although individual members of staff can be. The HSE could call the MoD to a Crown censure hearing, if it felt its procedures were at fault. In March 2008, nearly six years after Terry's death, there still had been no inquest, as the Coroner waited for the MoD to disclose information about the incident. The Guardian newspaper reported, 'It has established that Terry was a member of a small team of British and US scientists making bombs from ingredients of the sort that terrorists could obtain. There is also evidence pointing to experiments to discover more about radiological dispersal devices - so-called dirty bombs - which use conventional explosives to scatter radioactive material. 'But such a project would have been controversial as the open-air experiment that ended in Jupp's death was conducted at a weapons testing centre on an island in the Thames estuary 10 miles from Southend, Essex. 'Meanwhile, the scientist's family despair of discovering what happened. "I feel these people high up want it swept under the carpet," said Jupp's mother Anne. "The death of one man is nothing to upset them too much, I suppose. But it does upset us."'
Stephen Fiddy
Stephen, a partner in an engineering firm, died after being crushed by a forklift truck at his premises. The
inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 8 July 2003 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Kevin Smith
Kevin, an off-duty special constable and grain delivery driver, was crushed to death when he was trapped between a forklift truck and a seed cleaning and dressing vehicle on a farm in Colchester. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 29 October 2003 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In September 2004 at Chelmsford Crown Court, Anglia Grain Services was fined £35,000 after pleading guilty to breaching health and safety regulations.
Andrew Taylor
Andrew was fatally injured in a fall of some eight metres at the RTAL factory premises in Fort Road, Tilbury. He fell from the edge of a fixed platform, at which the protective guardrail had been removed temporarily, to carry out some work of installing a kiln. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 7 April 2005 when a verdict of 'Unlawful Killing' was returned. In October 2007 RTAL Ltd was fined £25,000 with £5000 costs and Managing Director Terry Green was fined £2500 and order to pay costs of £500, at Basildon Crown Court after admitting Health and Safety offences following Andrew's death. (Specifically, RTAL Ltd, Brighton Road, Purley is charged with an offence under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and managing director Terry Green from Chelmsford to an offence under Section 37(1) of this Act, in that due to his neglect as director, the company failed to take suitable and sufficient measures to prevent persons falling, as required by the Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1996.) HSE Inspector, Sandy Carmichael said, 'This was a serious breach of obligation to both its own staff and visiting workers, indicative of failure by the company to appreciate the risks from such complex work. Andrew Taylor's tragic and wasteful death could and should have been avoided by straightforward safety precautions. 'This case illustrates how things can go tragically wrong when plans are not thought through and risks are not properly controlled. HSE will not hesitate to take action against those who fall short of the law in such a way.'
Paul Turner
Paul was working at the Hoblongs Industrial Estate, Great Dunmow. He was killed when he was crushed by a transport trailer. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 19 October 2004 when a verdcit of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Brian Lampe
Brian was working for subcontractor, Michael Heinsen, trading as Multi-Man at the time of the incident. He fell 3m from a suspended floor he was helping to dismantle on to a concrete floor at Kent Blaxill’s site in Kirby Cross, near Frinton-on-Sea. Brian died in hospital 18 days later. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 7 April 2005 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. In a Health and Safety Executive prosecution at Basildon Crown Court, Kent Blaxill pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that someone not in their employment was exposed to safety risks. The company was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 costs. Mr Heinsen also faced one charge under health and safety legislation but denied the charges. The jury failed to reach a verdict and the recorder ordered a formal verdict of not guilty. Delivering the sentence on the company, recorder Shaun Murphy said Kent Blaxill had a good health and safety record, had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had fully complied with the investigation. He felt the sentence imposed was correct.
Alistair McLean
Alistair was working as a carpenter in Earlscolne when he fell 3 metres. He died four days later. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 19 July 2005 when a verdict of 'Death by natural causes' was returned. Mathew Aylott
Mathew was strapping 'For Sale' signs onto a van when the strap broke and he fell into the road and was hit by a car and killed. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 9 June 2004 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. Derek Thorburn
Derek Thorburn was killed in an explosion while he was welding a fuel tanker at Manor Road, West Thurrock. The explosion caused the asbestos roof of a warehouse to collapse. The inquest was to be held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court. Michael Griffin, managing director of Constructional & Vehicle Welders Ltd was summonsed to appear before magistrates in connection with the fatal explosion. Mr Griffin faced one count of manslaughter and one count of breaching safety laws. The company was also charged with S2 and S3 charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act. In February 2007 at Basildon Crown Court the manslaughter charge was dismissed by the judge. However Constructional Vehicle Welders Ltd was fined £5,000, with £20,000 costs, for beaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. Michael Griffin was fined £10,000 for breaching Section 37(1) of the same act. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) commented that they were satisfied that there had been convictions for health and safety against both the company and Mr Griffin in his personal capacity as managing director. The HSE also issued a warning about the dangers of work in confined spaces: 'The HSE wishes to make it clear that we expect the risks associated with this type of work to be properly managed in accordance with published guidance, whatever the size of the company. We will continue to take action against those who flout the law and put people's lives at risk.'
Yme Gashi
Yme was working in an 8' deep trench, fitting pipe work in London Road, Purfleet, when a digger bucket fell on him, killing him. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 3 March 2006 when a verdict of 'Death by misadventure' was returned.
Carl Ashcroft
Carl, a 19 year old roofing worker was killed when he fell off a roof onto scaffolding. The incident took place at Stanway near Colchester in Essex where Carl's employer Essex Roofing was subcontracted to Persimmon Homes. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court and a verdict of 'Death by natural causes' was returned. Gary Pratt
Gary died testing out a mobile generator he bought to keep him warm in his van overnight rather than pay for a hotel room. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 11 January 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The inquest heard Gary attached a hosepipe from the Honda generator in the back of his Vauxhall Vivaro and out through its offside door. But the piping became crushed when he closed the door and he fell victim to fumes given off by the generator. The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning and blood analysis revealed 86 per cent CO saturation. Coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray said that in the absence of foul play or any hint of suicide she would record the verdict of 'Accidental Death'. Stephen Mayho
Stephen, a delivery driver, was electrocuted when a crane he was using hit power cables. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 14 March 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The inquest heard Stephen had been asked to drive a flatbed lorry to a home in Chapel Hill, Chappel, to deliver a log cabin. Logistics co-ordinator Adrian Clark said he asked Stephen to drive the lorry, the only one on the firm fitted with a crane, because the usual driver was off. He also said he twice told Stephen not to use the lorry's crane because he didn't have the relevant certificate, the inquest heard. Stephen ignored the instruction and used the machinery at the home of Martin Bishop. The inquest also heard Stephen ignored advice from the homeowner to mind power cables. The crane hit the cables, carrying 6,500 volts.
Mark Porter
Mark, a warehouse worker, died after becoming trapped under a forklift truck which had toppled over. It is believed he was driving the truck at the time of the incident. The incident is being investigated by Chelmsford Borough Council who take responsibility from the health and Safety Executive (HSE) for investigating incidents in relatively low-risk premises. The inquest was to be held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court.
Hendrick Tebrake
Hendrick, a Dutch lorry driver, fell from the top of a tanker. He was collecting products from Dietrix Ltd to take back to the continent. The incident was investigated by Chelmsford Borough Council who take responsibility from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for investigating incidents in relatively low-risk premises. The inquest was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court on 13 November 2007 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.
Ajet Krasniq
Ajet, a Kosovan construction worker, died when he was hit on the head by a steel girder on a building site in Buckhurst Hill where he and others were carrying out refurbishment work on a house. Ajet was carrying a reinforced steel joist with some colleagues which dropped while being manually hoisted from a horizontal to a vertical position. He was taken to Whipps Cross Hospital where he was declared dead. Another worker was treated for shock. The inquest
was held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court, sitting at County Hall Chelmsford, on 11 July 2008 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The jury noted there was no head protection in use for Ajet.
John Higgins
John died in a fire after an electricity sub-station exploded. John was killed after the fire took hold in Bishop Hall Lane, close to the Rivermead campus of the Anglia Ruskin University, in Chelmsford. The fire left thousands of homes in Chelmsford without power and 8,000 university students had to be evacuated as a 200-metre exclusion zone was set up around the site. A post-mortem carried showed John died of burns and an inhalation of toxic gases. The inquest
was to be held at Essex and Thurrock Coroner’s Court.
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