Engineer at new Everton ground died after being caught on machinery, inquest told

An Everton fan who was working on the football club’s new stadium suffered severe head injuries when he was caught between a beam and a piece of machinery, an inquest has heard.

Ventilation engineer Michael Jones, from Kirkby, Merseyside, died on August 14th after being injured at Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool, where Everton’s new ground is being built.

An inquest into the 26-year-old’s death was opened on Wednesday at Gerard Majella Courthouse in Liverpool.

Senior coroner Andrew Rebello told the court: “Michael had been operating a machine commonly known as a scissor ladder.

“He was caught between the beam above him and the machine.”

The court heard that Mr Jones, whose middle name was Goodison, had been wearing a hard hat, which was damaged in the incident.

Mr Rebello said: “A colleague noticed Michael’s lift had stopped. He climbed onto Michael’s lift and moved it forward. This released Michael and this revealed severe head injuries.

“He was lifted to the ground and provided with first aid until an ambulance arrived, when he was transported to hospital where tragically he was certified as having died.”

He said the matter is being investigated by Merseyside Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), who are working together.

He added: “This will be a very complex and technical investigation which will take some time.”

Mr Rebello said a post-mortem examination has been carried out and a report from the pathologist will be available after toxicology results.

He said: “I don’t think there is any concern there may have been any substances in Mr Jones at the time of the incident, but in a case of this nature toxicology is taken routinely.”

The inquest was told that Mr Jones had three older sisters and came from a