A banger racer was crushed to death under a car wh
A banger racer was crushed to death under a car when the extension lead he was using to hold up the chassis snapped, an inquest heard.
Builder Trevor Starling, 32, lived for cars but was ‘not very safety conscious.
‘
When the father-of-three used the flimsy flex instead of a chain to suspend the Ford Orion it cost him his life, Westminster Coroner’s Court was told.
Mr Starling was found with his feet poking out from beneath the car by his horrified brother Stephen.
He was probably under the car all night because he was last seen by a neighbour at work the afternoon before.
Stephen Starling said: ‘He hadn’t returned home the previous evening and his partner had become concerned.
‘When I arrived I saw Trevor lying half under the front of the car.
‘I called out to him a few times and when I got no answer I started to panic.
‘
Trevor’s girlfriend, Maria Williams, who lived with him at (239) Bennetts Close, Colliers Wood, southwest London said: ‘He loved taking cars apart
and putting them back together again.
‘He had been working on cars since he was 15 years old.
‘
PC Simon Henderson, investigated the accident at (89) Runnymede, Mitcham, Surrey, a maisonette he owned by Mr Starling where he repaired cars on the driveway.
He said the three core household flex and been torn in half by the weight of the car.
Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said that Mr Starling had suffered a fractured skull which would have caused him to lose consciousness immediately after the incident on December 12 last year.
Carol Starling the dead man’s sister of (147) Runnymede, told the hearing: ‘He did love his cars but as a child and an adult he was not very safety conscious.
‘
Coroner Dr Paul Knapman said: ‘This has of course been a terrible tragedy, it’s been an unnecessary accident, really, but it’s all very well to look back in hindsight.
‘
Verdict: Accidental death.
ends
