A DEMOLITION site worker died after a fork-lift truck, driven by an unqualified driver, ran over him, an inquest heard yesterday. But how Anthony Hoare, from Hatton Hill Road, Litherland, Liverpool, came into contact with the machine remains a mystery. The jury at Caernarfon returned an open verdict on the 60-year old labourer after no evidence was put forward to explain how he was struck by the machine. Scuff marks found on the load carried by the fork-lift truck were not explained. The truck was carrying a load of oxy-acetylene cylinders on its front forks, restricting the driver's vision. It also emerged that the driver, Robert Stephen Kirby of Carr Lane, West Derby, Liverpool had not been trained to drive the truck. The hearing heard Mr Hoare was employed by contractors decommissioning and dismantling the Great Lakes Chemicals plant at Amlwch last January. Witnesses said they saw Mr Hoare walk about 20ft ahead of the fork-lift truck but no one saw him struck down. Mr Kirby told the hearing he had been driving a fork-lift truck for about 10 years on various building sites and considered himself "very competent". He also considered himself "very safety conscious" and insisted he was driving at no more than walking pace. Mr Kirby said: "I lost sight of Tony (Mr Hoare) as I carried the load to where he wanted the oxy-pack taken. I felt a bump and saw him lying in the road." He stopped the vehicle and went to get help. Mr Hoare suffered crush injuries and died at the scene. Health and Safety Executive inspector, Christopher Wilcox said minimum guidelines for operating a fork-lift truck on building sites required a banksman to guide the driver. But a banksman was not employed on the Great Lakes site and Mr Kirby said that was not practical. Vehicle examiners found several defects on the truck and Health and Safety Executive officials ordered these to be rectified and drivers trained before the truck was allowed back into service. Mr Hoare's family said they had no comment to make about the verdict as they left the inquest. Representatives from Mr Hoare's employers, J. Routledge and Sons, of Widnes, also left the hearing without making any comment. A Health and Safety Executive official said a decision on whether to prosecute Mr Kirby had not yet been taken. He said: "A file has been prepared and, in light of the inquest's findings, will be considered before a decision is reached." | 
