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Ralph Kennedy
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Court action warning over scaffolder’s death
Lawyers for grieving family threaten damages claim
LAWYERS have broken cover and warned Camden Council it will be prosecuted in the civil and criminal courts over the death of Ralph ‘Barney’ Kennedy, the scaffolder electrocuted while working on a Somers Town council estate.
Patrick Allen, representing Mr Kennedy’s girlfriend, Kelly Ivory, the mother of his two children, said compensation should be paid out by the Town Hall.
Writing exclusively in this week’s New Journal, he says: “Barney’s dependants will be taking civil proceedings to compensate them for his death as Camden has refused to accept liability for their claim.
“There is little doubt that Barney’s life would have been saved if Camden had taken basic precautions to maintain the electrical installation on this estate.”
His comments represent the first public indication that there will be a fight for compensation on behalf of Mr Kennedy’s son Bailey, 4, and daughter Bethany, 2.
Mr Allen, a senior partner at Hodge, Jones and Allen, one of Camden’s biggest law firms, added: “We can only hope residents and visitors to Camden property will be safer in the future as a result of the court action to be taken against Camden.”
Mr Kennedy, 24, was electrocuted in September last year when he touched a faulty light fitting while working on the refurbishment of the Mayford estate in Chalton Street.
A jury at a coroner’s inquest last week returned an open verdict after hearing details of his death – making clear reference to a safety earth wire which had been cut, apparently deliberately, inside the fitting.
Ms Ivory, 24, who shared a home in Royal College Street, Camden Town, with Mr Kennedy, said: “His death is a tragedy that will take us years to get over.”
The council said last night that it could not comment on the possibility of further legal action while a probe is continuing by the Health and Safety Executive, the national watchdog which investigates deaths in the workplace.
Ms Ivory is due to join a march of construction workers calling for better safety on sites on Saturday.
Alan Ritchie, general secretary of construction union UCATT, said: “This tragedy underlines once again that if corners are cut on construction sites then it is all too common for deaths and serious injuries to occur. Councils must ensure their safety provisions are beyond reproach. They cannot simply wash their hands of their responsibilities and blame others for their failings.”
Tony O’Brien, secretary of the construction safety campaign, said: “There was a time when Camden had a large, directly-employed, in-house workforce who would have carried out this type of work. If they had done this work they would have every one properly trained. Safety inspections would have been carried out each day.”
It emerged this week that a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents report in 2000 had warned the council it needed to improve the way it checks electrical installations.
The report said: “There are no procedures to control the use and maintenance of electrical systems.”
Housing director Neil Litherland said: “We understand this is an extremely difficult time for Mr Kennedy’s family, who want answers to why he died.
“Last week’s inquest highlighted the complexities of this case. We will need to look at all the evidence – currently being considered under a Health and Safety Executive investigation – before we are able to respond to their civil claim.”
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