Teen tree surgeon's death accidental, inquest finds

The death of an apprentice tree surgeon who was crushed by a tree he was felling was accidental, an inquest has ruled.

Jonty Parkinson was working in woodland on a National Trust site near Faringdon, Oxfordshire, on 6 September 2024 when he was crushed by a tree that did not fall in the intended way.

Jurors at Oxford Coroner's Court ruled on Thursday that Parkinson's death had been accidental.

Declining to issue a prevention of future deaths report, Coroner Darren Salter said there had been "no shortage" of regulations and guidance for the role.

He said the incident "comes down to these being applied".

Salter also thanked Parkinson's family for their engagement and dignity throughout a "difficult process".

In a statement released afterwards, the family said: "We are grateful for the jury's careful consideration of the evidence and in making their detailed findings about Jonty's unnecessary and avoidable death."

Paying tribute to her son on Tuesday, his mother Ali Parkinson told the inquest the 18-year-old was a "wonderful young man" who had a "real zest for life".

He had been "larger than life from a young age" and that there was "nothing he wouldn't do for those he loved", she said.

The inquest previously heard Parkinson had used a chainsaw to partially fell the tree, after which his colleague Joe Bristow used ropes attached to a chipper to pull it down.

Neither Bristow nor Parkinson were trained to carry out the assisted felling technique, which their manager told the inquest he had advised against.

The tree - 1m (3ft) in diameter and 12m (39ft) tall - fell in the wrong direction, at which point, Bristow told the hearing he realised Parkinson was underneath it.

A local resident said in a statement they had heard the tree fall, with Bristow running to their house to call emergency services "almost immediately" after.

The resident said they then ran towards the site with Bristow, where they saw Parkinson pinned under a large tree.

Bristow, who was "white in the face and shaking", then stood up and said "he's gone, he's gone", the local resident said.

Parkinson was later pronounced dead at the scene, with a post-mortem examination finding the Cirencester teen had died from crush injuries to his abdomen.

Jurors concluded Bristow and Parkinson were not trained to fell a tree of its size, and the initial chainsaw cut had been deeper than industry guidance - increasing the likelihood of it falling the wrong way.

They also found the use of the chipper had contravened company policy, but that it was informally accepted within the team of arborists.

A report into the incident commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the tree surgeons had not followed "good industry practice".

It found the cuts were "not of sufficient accuracy" to ensure the tree fell in the intended direction.

The report, which was carried out by an industry expert, attributed the causes of the incident to a combination of inadequate supervision, planning and training.

Thames Valley Police has concluded its investigation into the death, opting not to seek criminal prosecutions. The HSE is now leading inquiries.

Parkinson had been an apprentice at the Cotswold Group, which is no longer trading, since October 2022, and was nearing the end of his qualification.