Verdict reached at inquest of former fireman who broke his back in fall from hoist

Hugh Douglas Colley, aged 85, from Shrewsbury, suffered a broken vertebrae in the fall in May last year and died in hospital a few days later.

An inquest into his death, held at Shirehall in Shrewsbury, heard how the Oxford Midi 180 hoist, which was used to lift him in and out of bed, collapsed, causing Mr Colley to fall five to six feet.

Mr Colley, who suffered from multiple sclerosis among other conditions, was a retired firefighter of 25 years who lived in Colmere Drive, Harlescott.

The machine, which was serviced two days before Mr Colley's fall, did not have a fulcrum pin inserted, which would have helped keep in place a spreader bar to which the sling was attached. Instead, it was being held by two ledges.

The inquest jury asked for the machine to be taken to their deliberation room so they could inspect it further. After around an hour and a half, they returned to deliver a unanimous conclusion of accidental death, which was formally recorded by John Ellery, senior coroner for Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

The jury also handed a list of recommendations to Mr Ellery, which he said he will attach when he writes to the Government's Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

Mr Ellery said he was satisfied the hoist is a safe piece of equipment, but would write to suggest if it could be improved further. He also told the jury and Mr Colley's daughter Lynn and son Mark that a conclusion of accidental death is a neutral term which does not excuse or imply blame.

"Hopefully some good will come from this," added Mr Ellery.

Mr Colley's son Mark had earlier taken to the witness stand to tell the jury about his father.

"I would like to thank everybody for their time," he said. "It is the most precious thing we have. It has been emotional.

"He was a funny guy. He used to tell 'dad jokes'. You'd always start laughing before the punchline.

"My dad was so easy going, you'd be hard pushed to fall out with him.

"He was a fireman for 25 years. He worked at the Aberfan disaster as a volunteer. We didn't really know about it until later on. I used to go round and watch the football or Formula One and he would tell stories."

Mr Colley Jr also told how, despite his illnesses and conditions, his dad would still laugh with his carers.

"He had two or three who came to see him. He always had a joke with them. The carers and nurses came to his funeral. He had an honour guard from the fire service."

He added: "Mum met him when she was 16-and-a-half. She's 84 now. You just don't get past it.

"We miss our dad. We love our dad."

He added that if the findings from the inquest helped prevent the same thing happening to another family, it would be "job done".