Dad Was Killed During A Visit To Car Salvage Yard In Carlisle

The family of a Skipton man who died after an incident with a forklift truck at a car salvage yard are calling for lessons to be learned following a conclusion of accidental death at an inquest this week.

64-year-old Paul Spence was crushed to death in an accident at Michael Douglas Auto Salvage in Carlisle in February 2018. 

The accident occurred while Paul and others at the yard, including the proprietor Michael Douglas, were loading a forklift truck on to the back of a lorry.  The forklift became unstable and fell on to Paul.

Paul was treated by paramedics and the crew of an air ambulance, but he died at the scene.

Following the accident, Paul’s family instructed specialist workplace accident lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to support them during the jury inquest at Carlisle Coroner’s Court last week.

The inquest began on Wednesday and lasted for a day and a half.  During the course of it, various conflicting accounts were heard by the jury as to the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, with evidence provided by two experts.  A conclusion of accidental death was delivered by the jury.

Paul’s family have now been told that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is proceeding with a prosecution over the case.

Paul’s daughter Maria said: “The past year has been incredibly difficult for us all and we are glad that the inquest process has come to an end.

“The conclusion reached by the jury was one that we had expected, and we would like to thank the Coroner and the jury.  However, there are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

“We are aware that there is an HSE prosecution pending and we hope that we will get the answers we are looking for during the course of those proceedings.”

Expert Opinion

“This is a terribly tragic case, and this week has been hard for Paul’s family to relive what happened to him.

Unfortunately, the constraints of the inquest process do not allow the family to receive all the answers to their questions and they are now preparing for the HSE prosecution which will examine more details of the case and hopefully provide them with the answers they seek.”
Sion Kingston - Partner

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