Worker was crushed by a lorry and trailer
A man was crushed to death when a lorry rolled into him and trapped him against a trailer at a recycling yard – after it was thought he left the vehicle's handbrake off while fixing a battery, an inquest heard.
Mark Shore, aged 42, is believed to have taken off the brake before plugging in and using a battery booster to start the lorry engine at a yard owned by his employer R Davies Metals.
But after getting back out of the cab to remove the booster, the lorry moved forward down a slope in the yard in Smithy Lane in Pensnett and crushed Mr Shore against an adjacent trailer. He died from severe chest injuries.
At an inquest at Smethwick Coroners' Court on Wednesday, a jury concluded Mr Shore's death on June 21 last year was accidental.
Mr Shore's colleague Renney Davies Junior, who lived in a bungalow next to the yard, heard a loud bang at 4.30am.
"I looked outside, saw one of the lorries had moved and driven into the side of a trailer, my immediate thought was someone was trying to steal the lorry," he said in a statement to the inquest. I ran outside and saw Mark. He was trapped between lorry and trailer."
He smashed a window and pulled the vehicle back, but despite emergency services being called, Mr Shore died at the scene.
The jury heard it is was unclear why Mr Shore, who lived off High Street in Wordsley, was at the yard at 4.30am.
Mr Shore's friend Gemma Tate said he had told her he was driving to Leeds on the day, although a satellite navigation system plugged into the lorry came up with an address in Luton.
Company director Renney Davies Senior said he had no knowledge of a job to Luton or Leeds. He said Mr Shore was expected at 7.30am.
Mr Davies said he had employed Mr Shore for 13 months, but in the months up to his death he had changed. He said: "He was a very courteous fellow, he was very careful in early months of employment. But due to family problems he was a little complacent toward the end."
A toxicology report by pathologist Dr Swarna Ghosh found cannabis in Mr Shore's blood and urine, indicating recent use of the drug. Cocaine was also found in his urine.
The jury foreman said: "We believe that the handbrake was disengaged at some point, by someone, reasons unknown. While Mr Shore was outside the cab disconnecting the battery booster the brakes disengaged causing the lorry to roll down the slope."
Please leave tributes to Mark Shore below. Comments on the incident will not be published.
