Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe directed the jury that there could be no ‘unlawful killing’ verdict, despite the fact that the boss of the crane hire company, Doug Genge of Falcon Crane, had breached his duty of care to the deceased.
The inquest heard that the accident was caused by the wrong counter weight being fitted to the counterjib of the tower crane. This meant that not only were the bolts in the slew ring under more stress than they were designed to take, but also that they were torqued when the crane was out of balance. This led to them failing and the top of the crane coming crashing down, killing the operator, Jonathan Cloke, and Michael Alexa, who happened to be nearby, working on his car.
The fact that the 27-year-old BPR 222 crane had the wrong manual with it contributed to the fact that the counterweight error was not spotted before or during assembly.
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