Family of Daventry man crushed by forklift truck at work 'have had no answers', inquest hears

An inquest has begun into the death of a "happy and jovial" Northamptonshire man who was crushed by his forklift truck at work.
A four-day inquest has started at Northamptonshire County Hall.A four-day inquest has started at Northamptonshire County Hall.
A four-day inquest has started at Northamptonshire County Hall.

Reginald Bacon, 53, from Winston Close, Daventry, died at the scene in October 2016 after a late-night incident at Fortec Distribution, in Watford, Northamptonshire.

A four-day inquest was launched today (January 22), which will end with a jury verdict to rule officially what happened.

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Coroner Jacqueline Devonish, who is leading lead the inquest, said: "He was involved in an incident with an HGV, driven by an employee of NLC Transport.

"This resulted in Mr Bacon's forklift truck falling onto one side and crushing him beneath it."

The inquest heard how a paramedic arrived at the scene minutes after the disaster but found the forklift had caused caused a severe head injury, killing him.

His family say they have questions over "contradictory statements" given in the aftermath of the incident.

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Mr Bacon's eldest daughter Leanne Evans said: "We've had no answers for over a year now. It's not a call you expect to get at six in the morning.

"He was a happy, jovial and very opinionated man. He enjoyed woodwork and was a big fan of Coventry City."

The inquest will expect to hear from witnesses to the incident as well as see CCTV and dashcam footage from inside the warehouse at Fortec.

The inquest continues.