A contractor who fell 40ft from a church roof collapsed at an inquest – after he was brought from hospital to give evidence.
Kenneth Knowles, of Matthias Road, Newington Green, was working on St John’s Church in Hackney with his colleague, 18-year-old Michael Taylor of Copenhagen Street, Islington.
When scaffolding collapsed, they fell to the ground and Michael died. It meant that Mr Knowles was forced to attend his inquest at St Pancras Coroners’ Court.
He was assisted into the court by ambulance men while wearing a dressing gown. As he finished giving evidence, Mr Knowles collapsed. Coroner W Purchase suggested that he “should be taken to hospital”.
The inquest, meanwhile, ruled out that the scaffolding had been erected carelessly, and a verdict of accidental death was given.
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