A dad and son were killed after the climbing platform they were working on collapsed, an inquest heard.
David Bottomley, 53, and his apprentice son Clayton, 17, were working on the Unity Building, at the corner of Chapel Street and Rumford Place in Liverpool city centre, when the platform plummeted 14 storeys at around 3.30pm on May 19, 2021.
The pair were flung from the platform as it crashed onto the roof of the seventh floor. David died at the scene, while Clayton tragically died in hospital four days later.
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Eyewitnesses described the horrific moment the platform at the 21st floor of the building suddenly gave way.
(Image: Getty Images)
Thomas Blanchfield, who was working in the tower and witnessed the incident from a meeting room window, said: “I could see David trying to grab something. I could see Clayton moving, but I didn’t know what he was doing. Then they both came away from the building and grabbed the railing, and both seemed to brace themselves.”
He added: “There was about four to six clicks before it went into free-fall. The noise was like a Catherine wheel or a zip-wire as the basket was in free-fall.”
The inquest heard the platform, which was attached to a mast, began to click “like a rollercoaster” as it gradually dropped, reports the Liverpool Echo.
In a tragic turn of events, two men suffered severe injuries after a fall, with David being declared dead at the scene due to “massive blunt force chest injuries”. Clayton succumbed to his injuries in intensive care on May 23, with a post-mortem revealing “severe, irreversible and unsurvivable brain damage” as the cause of death, alongside hypoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest, and multiple injuries.
At the accident site, workers informed Merseyside Police that the platform’s brakes had malfunctioned, leading to the catastrophic fall. David Bottomley from West Yorkshire, had been working as a sub-contractor for AAI Selby at the building for 18 months, under the employment of Laing O’Rourke.
Clayton, meanwhile, was six months into an apprenticeship with his father’s firm.
Thomas Lowry, a witness from the commercial section of the Unity Building, recalled: “The noise made me look out straight away, and I saw the platform suspended against the residential side of the building. The right hand side was about one foot lower than the left hand side. The noises coming from the platform I can only describe as similar to the noises you hear when you’re on a rollercoaster. The noises you hear at the very top before you fall.”
During an online work meeting, local resident Shani Tatton, aghast, saw the incident unfold right outside her kitchen window. She said: “I heard a loud noise. It sounded like something falling at high speed and crashing afterwards. I couldn’t even describe the sound. It was like nothing I’ve ever heard before.
“When I got a chance to look, I looked out the window and saw all the flashing lights and the paramedics around the same two males I had seen earlier. It was then I knew what had happened. The two males were lying on the roof.”
After the tragedy, tributes were paid to David and Clayton.
A message laid at the scene said: “To Dave and Clayton, my old friend and his son, we never made that catch up drink and that I will always miss. Always a smile on your face. You both will be sorely missed, save a seat at the bar for me.”
The ongoing inquest is set to last all week, with the Health and Safety Executive, construction giant Laing O’Rourke, mast climbing platform providers Adastra Access, and gearbox gurus Nord Gear Ltd all due to give evidence.
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