Accident verdict on diver's death (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Accident verdict on diver's death

4:59pm Friday 23rd May 2008 in News

The father of a diver killed while working at a canal lock gate almost four years ago has today slammed the inquest process after an accidental death verdict was returned by a jury.

Alick Moore, 66, a retired naval officer, said the proceedings had been 'pointless.' He had represented the interests of his family throughout the eight-day inquest at Cheltenham into the death of his professional diver son David, 29.

After the jury had this afternoon returned a verdict of accidental death with a narrative explanation, Mr Moore described the family's emotions as being "utterly disappointed and disillusioned".

"We have learned from this experience that the legal system and inquests in particular are unconcerned about the feelings and priorities of the bereaved family," he said.

"Any pretence that victims are at the heart of the legal system in this country is a misconception of the facts.

"As far as we're concerned the inquest has been a pointless exercise which in the end provides no useful conclusion and no satisfaction to the bereaved family, while at the same time forcing us through a harrowing and sometimes humiliating form of inquisition, to relive events of the utmost distress and grief."

The jury had been left only two possible verdicts by coroner Alan Crickmore - a narrative verdict or a verdict of accidental death. Mr Crickmore had ruled out unlawful killing as a valid verdict for the jury to consider.

"Under the rules, the coroner cannot blame any individual for causing the death and, therefore, in trying to establish by what means the death was caused, he is confined to a ritualistic dance around the subject which is intensely frustrating and upsetting to the bereaved family," Mr Moore said.

David Moore, from Southsea, Hampshire, died while working at Tewkesbury's Upper Lode Lock in October 2004. He was in a team of four and had volunteered for the dive that proved fatal.

While fixing leaks along the bottom of a temporary dam, David stopped breathing and was trapped under more than 3m of water. The struggle by workmates and ambulance paramedics to save him was in vain.

He died from crushing caused by the pressure of the water - equivalent to six or seven people standing on top of him.

Mr Moore snr said the family were in no dboubt that David's death was due to unsafe practices which, according to the coroner's diving expert, were still in use by a minority of people in the inshore diving industry, he said.

"To rub salt into the wound, the bereaved family receives no help whatever unless they pay for their own legal advice," Mr Moore continued.

"The costs of such advice run into tens of thousands of pounds and there is no way of recovering it from the judicial or any other system.

"This is in stark contrast to the position of British Waterways in this case, who were able to retain counsel and solicitors to defend their interests at the inquest.

"Witnesses and experts called by the coroner can claim travel and accommodation expenses but there is no such provision for the family of the deceased, who have to shoulder the whole burden and their loss alone."

The inquest had been told by pathologist Derek James that David's brainshowed signs of widespread hypoxic brain damage, or oxygen starvation, as a result of "significant crush injury".

Mr Moore said this was the first time the family had heard that their son had been crushed by tons of water.

"It has taken us three and a half years to find this out. We have lived the nightmare of what he might have suffered for far too long."

Antony Hillgrove, a diving expert, told the inquest that the pressure on David would have been equivalent to "six or seven people jumping on him."

Leaks between the temporary dam and the lock floor were to be sealed by a hessian sausage, explained to the jury by British Waterway maintenance supervisor Richard Rowles.

Mr Rowles said the seal was created with oakham (untwisted rope fibres saturated in an oily substance) and was then enclosed in a 'hessian sausage'.

As the outer dam came to the floor of the lock, the seal would mould itself to the floor. This was a system that had been "tried and tested for 40 years." according to many of the witnesses.

John Talbot, a qualified engineer with more than 50 years' experience, was critical of the hessian seal method used.

"Hessian is not a very strong material," Mr Talbot said. "The method of attaching it was by flathead nails at intervals, quite far apart. This, in my mind, is not very secure.

"When secured at intervals it could tear between the nails and open the way for water to get in."

There were leaks spotted on the morning of David's death but Mr Rowles and operations engineer Roger Byrne told the inquest they had not thought there to be a risk of death to the divers on that morning.

Robert Sullivan, a diver of more than 30 years' experience who was working onsite as a tender, said: "If (the leaks) had been worse then I'm sure we just would not have gone," he said. "We would not have done it."

After workers knew Mr Moore was in trouble, they tried to close the lock gates but were prevented from doing so, firstly by fencing which had to be removed and secondly by a pump which became stuck in the gates.

Andrew Spratley, working for British Waterways, said the workers knew they needed to get water into the lock to relieve the pressure differential between the two parts of the dam.

The standby diver, Alex Georgiou, told the inquest he wanted to get into the water to try and save David but the diving supervisor, Christopher Drake, prevented him from doing so because it was not deemed safe.

After about 13 minutes, however, Mr Georgiou did get into the water and emerged with David's body.

Mr Moore asked Dr James if his son might have survived had it taken only five minutes to reach him - instead of 15 minutes.

There was a long silence before Dr James answered, saying: "That's a very difficult question.

"There are people who survive neurologically intact after long periods in the water, usually children but sometimes young adults.

"Someone in a normal temperature stopped from having oxygen supply to the brain is going to lose consciousness in three to 11 seconds. 15 seconds later, hypoxic fitting starts.

"People subject to that and one minute of hypoxia can survive intact but after that there is an increased possibility of neurological damage.

"Usually by about five minutes few will survive."

Dr James said the post mortem found "pinpoint haemorrhages". These appeared as "red speckles", he said, and were found on various parts of David's body, including his chest, arms and legs.

"One way the brain could be starved of oxygen could be drowning but the pinpoint haemorrhages are typical of a crush injury," he said.

"If there is great pressure on the chest, the pressure inside the chest goes up suddenly and, once that happens, you will lose consciousness in a matter of seconds."

Dr James agreed the pressure on David could have been from a non-structural force and that the findings were consistent with David being sucked against the dam face.