Trucker killed when lorry cab rolled off back of trailer

A trucker was crushed to death when a lorry cab he was delivering rolled off his vehicle onto him, an inquest heard.

Thomas Paul Holton Willis was found pinned under the cab in the yard of lorry dealer PD Services, in Alltami, Flintshire, on 2 August 2022.

The 29-year-old of Honiton, east Devon, was found just after 06:00 BST by site manager Paul Porter.

He had left him to get a truck and winch to help get the cargo off the trailer but on his return minutes later he saw one of the tractor units had come off the trailer.

A post-mortem examination found Willis would have died quickly from being crushed by the cab, which dragged him about 16 metres. It recorded the cause of death as crush asphyxia.

Porter told Ruthin Coroner's Court: "When I left him he was standing at the back doing something with the ramps."

He found Willis underneath the unit. It had rolled 30 to 40ft (9.1-12.1m) and come to a stop halfway down a bank.

Porter said: "I went to him, but there was no response. I called 999... it all happened so fast."

Nothing like it had happened before, he said, adding: "It broke my heart... I go over it every day."

Willis, who had a young son, was due to marry the following year.

Looking at photos in court, his father, Paul Willis, said he thought some straps holding the cab on his son's vehicle had come off "of their own accord".

He said there was nothing wrong with how the lorry cabs were fixed to the trailer for the journey from Devon to north Wales.

He told the hearing: "He would have jumped out on arrival and taken off the straps he didn't need... and left a few straps on to drive from gate to the yard."

His father said his son was a positive, enthusiastic man who was full of ideas.

The family showed shire horses, he said, which his son was passionate about.

The last time they were all together was at a horse show the Saturday before the accident, the court heard.

"That is how I want to remember him," Willis' father said.

A jury at the court concluded on Tuesday Willis died due to "a combination of factors" which resulted in the unit rolling off the trailer.