Kildare man killed after being trapped by fibreglass panels, inquest hears

A Kildare father of four suffered fatal injuries after fibreglass panels weighing over a tonne fell on him while unloading a trailer, an inquest has heard.

A sitting of Kildare Coroner’s Court heard Damien “Wally” Walsh (47) of Cromwellstown Hill, Kilteel, Co Kildare was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident in a field near his home on June 28th, 2021, despite efforts by relatives and paramedics to save him.

The inquest heard the victim was trapped by four fibreglass panels weighing a total of 1,270 kilos which fell on top of him.

Mr Walsh’s son, Adam (21), gave evidence of how he was helping his father to unload a set of fibreglass panels that was being delivered on a trailer by a family friend, Des Perry.

The inquest heard that the victim – a tree surgeon who also carried out some part-time farming – was hoping to use the panels to build a shed on his land with the possibility of using it to house pheasants.

Adam Walsh said the panels had been loaded on both sides of the trailer which was fitted with an A-frame that would normally be used to transport glass and fastened in place with three straps.

He described how he went to one side of the vehicle and trailer to release the straps while his father and Mr Perry were on the other side to lift them down.

However, Mr Walsh said the second strap “shot up in the air” as he was releasing it which caused the panels to fall on top of the two men.

He told the Kildare county coroner, Denis Cusack, that he was unable to lift the panels off his father and Mr Perry before he ran back to the family home to seek assistance.

An inspector with the Health and Safety Authority, Martina O’Kearney-Flynn, said the jeep and trailer transporting the fibreglass panels had been parked across a slight slope on the field.

Ms O’Kearney-Flynn said the effect of the slope, which was “not immediately obvious to the eye”, meant the panels were effectively vertical or even overhanging so that they would tilt forward once the straps were released.

While the straps were in poor condition, the HSA inspector said they had not failed.

Garda James Keating, a vehicle inspector, said there were no mechanical defects with either the jeep or trailer.

Fought back tears

John Fenner, a neighbour who used his teleporter to help lift the panels off the two men, fought back tears as he described efforts to try to rescue them before paramedics arrived.

The inquest heard Mr Walsh’s wife, Lisa Redmond, was too upset to attend the hearing at Naas Courthouse.

In a written statement, however, Ms Redmond described being alerted to the scene of the accident by her son, Adam, and running to the field to find Mr Perry “with his head split open”.

In a statement, Mr Perry, who was unable to attend the inquest, said he had been hit on the head by the panels before being trapped underneath them.

Mr Perry, who suffered a broken back and fractured skull, spent three weeks in Tallaght hospital with his injuries.

Praising the “heroic” efforts of Mr Walsh’s son, Adam, the coroner remarked: “It was outstanding. You put yourself at risk trying to help your dad. You should be very proud of everything you did.”

The inquest heard a postmortem found Mr Walsh had died from major internal bleeding in his chest cavity as a result of the accident, while he also suffered a broken collar bone and several broken ribs.

Based on the evidence, Prof Cusack returned a verdict of accidental death in what he described as “a simple but very tragic” case.