Pupils saw man crushed by lorry (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Pupils saw man crushed by lorry

9:37am Thursday 31st July 2008 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

CCTV images seen by an inquest jury showed young children watching as Swindon builder Tony Lockey was crushed to death.

The graphic footage captured the incident at Red Oaks Primary School in Redhouse on June 20 last year.

Several children had been cycling bikes and playing with toys as the terrifying incident unfolded just feet away.

Tony, 48, of Pinehurst Road, was crushed by a Yellow Benford 3000 vehicle, on hire from Pickerings plant Ltd, after driver Ashley Titcombe said the clutch failed to work.

Father-of-four Tony, who worked for Needhams Construction for 19 years, received fatal head injuries after he was crushed against a wall.

The images were shown to the jury as Brian Pells of the Skills Council for Construction, which offers training for construction and competent practices, filed a report on the incident.

Wiltshire Coroner David Masters asked him about Tony's position between the dumper and the wall, asking if it presented a danger.

"With the amount of experience he had he shouldn't have placed himself in that position," said Mr Pells.

He also said Mr Titcombe of Newburn Crescent, had stalled the dumper more than once that day. After viewing the CCTV he said he could see Titcombe reaching for the ignition and restarting the engine.

He said it would be difficult to manoeuvere a clutch in such poor condition.

Earlier the court heard from Sgt Craig Hardy, a vehicle examiner for Wiltshire Police. He tested the truck three hours after the incident.

"There was no resistance to the clutch. It was so light I was able to use a pen to be able to depress it."

He said the clutch would have worn down over time but he could not say when it had stopped working.

Mr Masters put to him that it was the straw that broke the clutch's back' when Mr Titcombe drove towards Tony, unable to stop.

Mr Titcombe said he had not had any problems with the machine except for stiffness of the gears which, he said, was normal for a vehicle like the dumper.

In his evidence Mr Titcombe, who had worked in the building trade for 45 years, expressed concern about the size of the vehicle given the confined space that the pair were in.

Det Sgt Alan Strike of Wiltshire Police told the inquest: "There is insufficient evidence to prosecute any party for gross negligence."

The jury returned a verdict of misadventure - an unintentional consequence of a deliberate act or omission.

The jury foreman said access around the area was restricted and manouvering difficult of such a large machine.

The Coroner extended his sympathy to Tony's family and said he would contact the education authority over concerns that the school allowed children to play yards from a building site at the time of the incident.