Tree surgeon died near Pontefract after tree trunk fell 'wrong way' inquest jury told

A tree surgeon  died after  a 12 metre  high tree trunk he was working on in the garden of a house at Darrington near Pontefract  fell  the "wrong way from what had been expected", an inquest jury heard.
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Kieran Parkinson was working on an ancient horse chestnut tree - which had stood around 30 metres tall - when it unexpectedly fell and struck him, an inquest jury at Wakefield Coroner's Court heard.

The 26-year-old suffered severe injuries to his head, chest and abdomen - which doctors said were consistent with crushing - and was pronounced dead at the scene.

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The inquest jury heard Mr Parkinson, an experienced self-employed tree surgeon, had cut all the branches and sections of the rotten trunk before tragedy struck.

Kieran Parkinson
Photo: SWNSKieran Parkinson
Photo: SWNS
Kieran Parkinson Photo: SWNS

When he cut a wedge in the remaining 12 metres of the trunk to bring it down, witnesses reported a "loud crack" and the tree fell in the opposite direction than he intended it to.

The court heard he had tried to run away, but a pile of branches in the garden of the detached house he was working at blocked his path.

Assistant coroner Jan Alam told the court: "Kieran was tasked with removing a tree from a residential property.

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"He was an experienced tree surgeon, he commenced removing branches from the dead tree with a chainsaw.

"Branches were stacked in a pile leaving a clear space for the tree to fall.

"Having removed the branches, Kieran was said to have cut a wedge in the tree to ensure it fell in the right direction.

"Others at the scene said they heard a loud snapping sound and witnesses saw Kieran running away from the tree towards the house.

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"Due to the pile of branches, there was only a limited escape route."

In a statement read out to the court, Tracy Stevens said she had gone to watch her husband Daryl, a chipping machine operator, work on the tree with Mr Parkinson.

Mrs Stevens said the tree was "so big you could not put your arms around it".

Mrs Stevens said she heard a loud crack and looked up at the tree to see Mr Parkinson cutting it with his chainsaw.

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She added: "I shouted to him that the tree was going to fall in his direction.

"He shouted back: 'no it's not, I've not trained it to fall that way'.

"I then saw Kieran on the grass, it looked as though he had tripped over.

"I looked away and heard a loud thud sound.

"I then heard Daryl shouting and crying."

Daryl Stevens said in a statement he had known Mr Parkinson for a number of years but had never worked with him before.

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His statement, which was read out to the court, stated Mr Parkinson mainly worked in the London area but had been visiting his grandmother in Castleford.

He added that Mr Parkinson had wanted to earn some money before heading back to London and had asked LGS for some work, who contracted him for the job in nearby Darrington.

Mr Stevens' statement added: "Kieran was very professional on the day and appeared to know what he was doing.

"He cut the branches down and I moved them to the chipping machine.

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"Kieran cut a wedge out of the tree in the direction he wanted it to fall.

"I heard a cracking noise and noticed the tree was starting to fall in a different direction.

"Kieran was running away from the tree in a straight line in the direction the tree was falling and the tree fell on him.

"The tree fell the wrong way from what had been expected.

"My wife and I have been traumatised since his death."

Laurence Dale, the neighbour of the house that Mr Parkinson was working at, told the inquest he had appeared to be fully competent in cutting the tree down.

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He said Mr Parkinson had removed the branches and the top section of the trunk, with "around 12 metres" of it left when he heard a loud crack.

He said he heard Mr and Mrs Stevens shout "you're way" as he saw the tree beginning to wobble.

Mr Dale rushed round to the garden to try to clear Mr Parkinson's airway before medics tried in vain to resuscitate him.

The inquest heard Mr Parkinson died of multiple injuries to his head, which would have instantly knocked him unconscious.

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A toxicology report stated that Mr Parkinson had cannabis and cocaine in his system.

The owner of the company booked in to take down the dead tree denied asking Mr Parkinson to do the job.

Lewis Stevens, owner of LGS Tree Surgeons, told the inquest he had planned to do the job himself over two days on February 16 and 17 using a cherry picker.

However, the court heard Mr Parkinson had turned up to the house on February 6 with Lewis Stevens' brother Daryl.

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Lewis Stevens told the court his sister-in-law, Tracy Stevens, sent him a picture of Mr Parkinson on the tree later that morning.

He said: "I didn't ask them to do that tree, so I was going to ask them to stop it, but it was too late by then."

Mr Stevens told the court he was the only employee of LGS and would occasionally use sub-contractors to work for him on an ad-hoc basis.

He told assistant coroner Jan Alam he had asked Mr Parkinson to take down some smaller trees at the house to clear the path for the cherry picker.

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But the jury was shown text messages sent between Lewis and Daryl Stevens in which they discussed asking Mr Parkinson to do some work.

In one message, Daryl says: "Parko (Kieran) said when tree lew?" to which Lewis replied: "When he free?"

Daryl said: "Saturday he lives in London, said 150 plus fuel. Tell 150 all in lol. He coming up to see his gran so he do it."

Another message from Daryl reads: "Sunday Parko take down" to which Lewis replied: "ok".

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Mr Stevens denied these messages were in reference to the chestnut tree that killed Mr Parkinson and claimed he had asked him to undertake another job.

When asked by Ms Alam what his plan for the tree was, he said: "I was going to take it down with a cherry picker. I was going to take it down in sections rather than felling it."

When asked why he would do it that way, he replied: "It's not an exact science, you put a wedge in it which way you want it to go and sometimes there occasions where they go wrong."

Ms Alam asked if he had carried out a risk assessment for the job.

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He replied: "No, I do it there and then on the day I do the job.

"I would have done that with this one if I'd taken it down."

He admitted that no method statement was in place for the job and that he did not check Mr Parkinson's qualifications before asking him to work for him.

The jury inquest, which is expected to last three days, continues.