Deaths in 2001

Deaths in 2003

Deaths in 2004

Deaths in 2005

Deaths in 2006

Deaths in 2007

Deaths in 2002

Click on the names below for further case details

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FURTHER DETAILS OF DEATHS

Lee Furnival

Lea, a construction worker, died after falling 3.5 metres from a ladder. He was thought to be cleaning gutters at Hornbuckle Farm near Maidenhead in Berkshire.

An inquest at London West Coroners' Court took place on 3 May 2002 and a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

According to the Health and Safety Executive around 50 per cent of all deaths at work are caused by falls from height.

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James Hutchinson

James, a doctor, slid down a bannister at a hospital social club. As he was not at work at the time of the incident Health and Safety Executive investigation was cursory.

An inquest, sitting without a jury, at London Inner West Coroner's Court took place on 30 May 2002 and a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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Simon Howman

Simon, from Stockport in Cheshire, was overcome by fumes from a paint stripper while working in the cellar of a house in Richmond. It is unclear whether he was actually employed to do the work

An inquest at London West Coroner's Court took place on 24 June 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

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Robert Burchett

Robert, a partner in R A Burchett Engineering, died when he fell 30 ft to his death while involved in the building of a new operating theatre at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. He was working for the Hertfordshire based company Krypton Health Construction Ltd. He fell whilst assisting with the lowering of a boiler by a crane.

Robert was standing on the roof of a £1.6 million construction project at the Stanmore hospital, guiding the boiler, known as a 'skid', through a hole in the roof. The skid which was suspended from crane did not fit in the hole, and slowly slid out of the sling it was being held in, knocking Robert off the roof.

Health and Safety inspector Giles Meredith told the coroner's court that the load had been partly in and partly out of the opening. The load struck one side of the opening and left one of the slings. 'It has then reached backwards and the load is then on the move.'

An inquest at London North Coroners Court (Hornsey) took place on 9 May 2003 and returned a verdict of 'Accidental Death'.

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Sarah Aves and Chalya Babla

Sara and Chalya, who worked for Albermarle and Bond Pawnbrokers in Brent, died when a fire broke after a security box exploded which had been delivered by Securitas.

The inquests into the two deaths took place at London North Coroners Court (Hornsey) on 6 and 7 May 2003. A narrative verdict was returned which stated:

'They died of carbon monoxide poisoning from inhalation of fire fumes on 8th April 2002 at approximately 1045 am at work. A fire broke out at the premises (Albermarle and Bond Pawnbrokers, Wembley high Rd on 8 April 2002) ad a consequence of a cash delivery box igniting. The location of the fire was such that the deceased was unable to exit the building. The deceased was found in the basement area of the building accessed by a trap door seeking an alternative means of escape. Sarah Aves and Chalya Babla were trapped by fire at their place of work.'

The Times Newspaper reported the first day of the inquest in the following manner:

A MAN listened to the final moments of his sister’s life over a mobile phone when she became trapped in a fire, an inquest was told yesterday. Scott Aves telephoned his sister, Sarah, 23, when a friend told him he had seen smoke coming from the pawnbroker’s shop where she worked.

On the third attempt his sister answered and told him she was trapped in the basement of the shop with another member of staff, Chalya Babla, a 41-year-old mother of two. The two women died alongside each other after a Securitas cash box being delivered to Albemarle and Bond pawnbroker’s in Wembley, North London, malfunctioned and burst into flames.

Hornsey Coroner’s Court was told how the women were trapped in thick smoke by barred windows and a locked fire exit which needed four keys to open it. Firefighters used hydraulic cutting tools on the windows and a crowbar on the fire door but could not reach the women. The jury heard how a firefighter held Miss Aves’s hand through the bars of a window as she died.

Relatives of the women left the courtroom when video evidence was played. In a statement to the court, Mr Aves told how he heard his sister die. 'I could hear a lot of banging in the background which must have been firemen trying to get in. I kept shouting at my phone hoping she would speak to me again. I then heard the noise of the phone falling to the floor.

'The phone didn’t switch off and now I really wish it had because I could hear quite a lot of moaning in the background. I don’t know how long it went on; it seemed like hours. The sound of the moaning gradually got lower and lower until I heard a gurgling sound and then gasping for breath.

'Then I heard one last gasp and then silence. I was still shouting hoping she would answer, but I knew really she wasn’t going to. Not long after, I heard a fireman shout, "Is there anybody there? Can anybody hear me?" I stopped calling for Sarah after a while.'

George Kerr, a Securitas delivery officer, told how the cash box, fitted with a security device containing a small explosive device which released smoke and dye, burst into flames after he deposited the cash in an airlock in the shop.

'I saw the young English lady. She was at the customer window with a fire extinguisher in her hand. She said to me that she could not get out. By that time there was thick smoke and I could not get back in.'

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Mark Bird

Mark, from Cleethorpes Lincolnshire, died when he fell 30 feet through a skylight at Land of Leather in Becton Retail Park, East London. He was employed by Humberside Industrial Roofing and was undertaking insulating work.

The inquest took place on 27 February 2003 at London East Coroners Court when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned. The jury was give the option of an unlawful killing verdict but did not return it.

The following was reported in a local newspaper:

"An inquest into Mr Bird's death at Walthamstow Coroner's Court heard how the roof lights of the showroom were classed as fragile and a hazard.

They were difficult to distinguish from the roof itself and were marked with rolls of insulation material, but when Mr Bird started relaying the roof, he may have covered a roof light with insulation and inadvertently stepped through it before any sheeting was in place.

Gareth Edwards, project manager for Ardmore Construction, insisted Mr Bird was not supposed to be working on the Land of Leather roof on the day he died because other work was supposed to be finished first.

But the inquest heard how that work could not be completed, because repairs had to be carried out. ....

Health and Safety inspector John Willbourne said Humberside Industrial Roofing's risk assessment did not assess at all the risk of working with fragile material, but an amended method of work was now produced."

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Philip Cable

Philip, a train guard, died when he tried to tackle a fire on a train carriage at Purley Station. He suffered a fatal asthma attack after inhaling fumes.

No inquest was held as a charge of manslaughter was laid against Karl Lacey who had set fire to newspapers and cushions in the carriage he had boarded at Whyteleafe station, before alighting at the next stop Kenley.

Karl Lacey, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to four years' youth custody by Judge David Paget at the Old Bailey on Friday 11 June 2004. The teenage had been caught on CCTV as the only passenger alighting at Kenley Station. when the images were released to the public. He was identified by his mother who contacted the police.

Phil helped the train driver and another guard to put out the fire after the train pulled into Purley Station with smoke billowing from the train windows.

Following his asthma attack he was told to return to the station office where he collapsed and died a few hours later.

The judge told Lacey, 'To start a fire on a train is extremely serious, reckless and irresponsible. You caused the death of a brave man whose devotion to duty in putting out the fire cost him his life.'

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Joseph, from Mitcham in Surrey, died after falling 15 metres at Ebury Street in South London when scaffolding collapsed as it was being dismantled.

An inquest took place at London Inner West Coroner's Court on 9 April 2003 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned by the jury.

The construction union Ucatt's general secretary George Brumwell said, 'One fatality is diabolical but we are still talking about construction accounting for a third of industry deaths and more than one death a week.' Bob Blackman, construction secretary of the union TGWU, said, 'In a recent blitz, 50 per cent of London sites were issued with prohibition notices. There was imminent danger on too many sites.'

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Robert died on 24 July after suffering electrocution while working on switchgear four days previously.

An inquest took place at London Inner West Coroners Court on 23 April 2004 and a narrative verdict was returned by the jury. It was determined that the procedures for safety were not sufficiently clear to all participants and the overall supervision by those charged with the duty to effect this had not been reviewed for clarity in recent times.


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Andrew, a site driver, died while battling to stop his runaway scaffold lorry slamming into shoppers in Southampton Street. Andrew was about to unload scaffolding from the vehicle when it started to roll down an incline towards the Savoy hotel.

Shouting to pedestrians to get out of the way, he tried to jump back into the cab as the lorry sped-up. The lorry then jack-knifed, throwing Andrew underneath the wheels. The vehicle sheared a concrete bollard on the pavement and stopped short of careering into a busy main road.

An inquest took place at London Inner West Coroners Court on 23 April 2004 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

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William Kadama and Gameli Akuklu

William and Gameli both died after they drowned at the swimming pool at Hendon Police Training School. Around 30 young people had been using the pool as part of a council run summer holiday scheme.

No inquest date was set at London North Coroners Court.

William and Gameli drowned in the swimming pool of Hendon Police Training School. The two boys were from Barnet play schemes and had arrived at the pool with social workers, but Mr Phillips was the only lifeguard on duty at the time.

Mr Phillips had been helping another boy with a cut knee. As he waited with the hurt boy for an ambulance other youths saw the two boys at the bottom of the pool. He jumped in to the water to try to rescue them but was unable to save them.

Gameli was pronounced dead at Northwick Park Hospital. William was put on a ventilator but died six days later at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

On 25 April 2006 Mr Phillips went on trial at the Old Bailey facing two charges of manslaughter and one of failing to ensure the safety of children.

On 9 June 2006 Mr Phillips was found not guilty on the two counts by unanimous verdicts, but still faced a judgement on a charge of failing to ensure the safety of children under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Mr Phillips was informed on 16 June that he had also been cleared of the health and safety charges. It was said in court that PC Phillips should not have been the only lifeguard on duty.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced on 1 August that the Metropolitan Police, the Metropolitan Police Authority and Barnet Council were to be prosecuted under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. They were due to appear at the City of London Magistrates' Court on August 8.

The 1974 Act states that non-employees must not have their health and safety adversely affected by an employer's actions. The trio face unlimited fines if found guilty.

On 5 October 2006 at the City of London Magistrates' Court Barnet Council pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety laws in relation to the drowning.

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) and the Metropolitan Police also appeared charged with the same offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The Metropolitan Police pleaded not guilty while the MPA did not enter a plea.

The council pleaded guilty because it did not make a formal risk assessment or a formal register of the swimming ability of those on the placement, though both were done informally on the day.

Barnet Council leader Mike Freer said, 'Since July 2002, there is a tighter control of visits to facilities such as the Peel Centre. The youth service policy has been revised and now requires such trips to be expressly sanctioned by a member of the Youth Service management team who checks that risk assessments address all significant risks.'

The case against the MPA and MPS was heard at the Old Bailey in July 2007 when the Metropolitan Police pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of the two boys.

On 13 July 2007 the Metropolitan Police force was fined £75,000 with £50,000 costs at the Old Bailey.

Barnet Council was fined £16,500 with £10,000 costs after it earlier admitted failing to carry out a proper risk assessment of the use of the Peel Centre pool.

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Jack, a New Zealander, was crushed to death by a timber shuttering panel which fell nine floors during the development of luxury flats at the £110 million Albion Wharf project in Battersea. He was employed by the contractor, the John Doyle Group. This incident took place when he was supervising an operation to lift the panel from the ground to the roof when it snagged on a ninth floor scaffold tube.

An inquest took place at London Inner West Coroner’s Court on 30 April 2003 when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

In May 2006 at the Old Bailey, Jack's employer, John Doyle Construction of Little Burrow, Welwyn Garden City, was fined £250,000 and its contractor Exterior, of Appold Street, London, £100,000. Both firms had earlier admitted health and safety breaches over the death.

Jack had been guiding a crane operator when a huge wooden shutter fell, broke in two and crashed to the ground on top of him. Jack, a site foreman, was not trained in the specialist job of guiding a crane operator, was killed instantly.

Judge Richard Hone QC said the dreadful accident and death had been avoidable. 'Everybody knew or should have perceived the increased danger,' he said. 'The legislation is there to protect people like him from taking on jobs for which they are not qualified. One hopes such an occurrence will never occur again.'

Prosecutor Roger Climie said Jack had been guiding the lifting of the three metre pieces of timber on to the building, eight storeys high, communicating by a hand-held radio. He said Jack had 'nowhere to go' when one piece fell.

He said John Doyle should take two-thirds of the responsibility for the tragedy.

Speaking after the hearing, widow Anna Saunders, of West Brompton, Jack had been in the country for more than five years and had died doing a job he loved.

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Robert was a 'Controller of Safety' working on the railways. He was replacing cabling casing along with three other of his colleagues when the he fell onto a live railway line outside East Croydon Station and was electrocuted

An inquest took place on 6 October 2003 at London South Coroner's Court when a verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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John was killed whilst supervising the dismantling of an auger piling rig so that that it could be removed from the site on Smithfield Street. Jarvis Construction was the main contractor on the site.

An inquest was held at the City of London Coroners Court on 9 and 10 of October 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

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William, a paper boy, was killed when he was hit by a car while cycling on his paper round. He did not have protective headgear or adequate lighting. There were no independent witnesses.

An inquest took place at London East Coroner's Court on 2nd October 2003 where an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

Coroner Elizabeth Stearns questioned whether his life might have been saved if he had worn a helmet and had more reflectors and lighting on his bike. 'He had no light on the bicycle , just two reflectors, one at the front and one on the back. There were none on the wheels of the bike and his orange paper bag had no reflective strip.'

PC Christopher Dunn, from the traffic investigation unit at Chadwell Heath, said, 'We can never say for sure whether this would have made a difference to the injuries William suffered, but as a tutor of cycling proficiency, I make it the first rule for youngsters.'

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Ismail Alton

Ismail was crushed to death whist dismantling a temporary scaffold platform on the southern side of Westminster Bridge. He was employed by K&N Welding Ltd, a Rochester firm which was working as a sub-contractor on the £40 million Costain/Norwest Holst Joint Venture to build a new Hungerford foot bridge over the River Thames.

An inquest at London Inner South Coroner's Court took place on 24 November 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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Edward Smith

Edward fell from scaffolding on the 18 November and died the next day.

An inquest took place at London West Coroners Court on 24 November 2003 when an 'Accidental Death' verdict was returned.

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Robert English

Robert, a builder, died after falling from a ladder. Robert's son witnessed the incident which occurred in Glendale Way, Thamesmead where they were working on a house extension.

Robert suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage in the fall and died 12 days later at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon.

It appears that the Health and Safety Executive were not involved because Robert and his son were 'doing a job for a friend'.

An inquest at London Inner West Coroner's Court took place on 18 February 2003. A verdict of 'Accidental Death' was returned.

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