THE family of a man who was crushed to death after an accident at a Carlisle auto salvage yard, is calling for lessons to be learned.

A jury at an inquest in Carlisle last week ruled that Paul Spence, of Skipton, died following an accident at Michael Douglas Auto Salvage yard, in Etterby, in February last year.

The family of the 64-year-old have now been told his death will also be subject to a prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Mr Spence’s daughter Maria said: “The past year has been incredibly difficult for us all and we are glad that the inquest process has come to an end.

“The conclusion reached by the jury was one that we had expected, and we would like to thank the Coroner and the jury. However, there are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered.

“We are aware that there is an HSE prosecution pending and we hope we will get the answers we are looking for during the course of those proceedings.”

The inquest began last Wednesday and concluded the following day. The hearing aimed to piece together the circumstances surrounding Mr Spence’s death.

It was heard the father died after a winch cable he was using to pull a forklift on to a wagon suddenly detached, toppling first Mr Spence from the wagon and then the forklift. The two-and-a-half-ton machine landed on top of him.

Sion Kingston, a workplace accident lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing Maria, said: “This is a terribly tragic case, and this week has been hard for Paul’s family to relive what happened to him.

“Unfortunately, the constraints of the inquest process do not allow the family to receive all the answers to their questions and they are now preparing for the HSE prosecution which will examine more details of the case and hopefully provide them with the answers they seek.”