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‘Barney’ Kennnedy playing with his children Bailey and Bethany |
Barney’s death was ‘a disaster waiting to happen’
Revelation that Town Hall was warned substandard work on council estates
A DAMNING dossier warning of dangerous repairs on Camden’s council estates has led to calls for a new investigation into the death of electrocuted scaffolder Ralph Kennedy.
The Town Hall, police detectives, safety inspectors and a coroner have all been formally asked to review their previous findings in the case.
The request follows the emergence of a meticulous report compiled by a former employee whose work included monitoring contractors during 23 years of service at the council.
Not just one memo: Edward Whelan’s evidence fills two thick ring binders. Documents date from the 1990s when he spent several years attempting to raise the alarm about electrical safety on estates.
They contain reams of inspection reports, photos, letters to his bosses and briefing notes warning that work completed by private contractors was of dangerously low standard – including the fitting of equipment without safety earth wires.
One extract from the dozens of complaints reads: “It cannot be emphasised how basic and fundamental the earthing requirement actually is – something which even a person of the most modest DIY skills could appreciate.”
His report details numerous examples where equipment was fitted without an earth wire.
In another memo sent to his bosses years before Mr Kennedy’s death on the Mayford estate in Somers Town in September 2006, Mr Whelan warned explicitly that somebody could die on a council estate “at any time” because of “dangerously substandard electrical work”.
He said: “In the event of an unfortunate incident which could happen at any time, not only would the injured party be entitled to substantial damages but should there be a fatality the council could face a charge of corporate manslaughter.”
Mr Whelan claimed his concerns about quick-fix, poor quality repairs were never properly addressed by his superiors despite his attempts to press the issue and his in-depth notes.
The Health and Safety Executive, the national watchdog, was also sent a detailed dossier more than 10 years ago but took no action.
Mr Whelan said on Tuesday: “In view of the Mayford incident, which was a disaster waiting to happen, I feel obliged to make available documents in my possession to bring to light matters which the council has tried to sweep under the carpet. I do this in the public interest and the interests of those who have been so tragically bereaved.”
He said a faulty light fitting which killed Mr Kennedy was “in effect a booby trap” because the earth wire inside had been cut.
The Town Hall confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) it was reviewing his documents.
Mr Whelan’s files make repeated references to equipment being fitted in a haphazard manner on estates across Camden Town, Somers Town and Holborn.
After failing to see improvement over several years in his job as a quality controller, Mr Whelan warned his bosses he would not take any responsibility for anybody getting injured.
He said in a memo to colleagues in 1996 that “the substandard work could take years to detect and goodness knows how much to put right”. He warned again this week that the lamp touched by Mr Kennedy “could have been faulty for literally years before the tragedy occurred”.
Camden Council has now been told it should hold a public inquiry to find out how senior officials dealt with Mr Whelan’s alarm about the standard of electrical repairs in the years before Mr Kennedy’s electrocution.
The 24-year-old, better known by the boyhood nickname which never left him, Barney, died almost instantly from an electrical shock. He had been working as a scaffolder during refurbishment work at the estate, doing overtime to raise money to buy his son a puppy.
A coroner’s inquest heard that inside the lamp the safety earth wire had been cut, probably as a quick-fix to get a series of external lights working again. The council has maintained it holds no records which could narrow down who might have cut the wire.
But coroner Dr Andrew Reid has now, in light of the new evidence, been urged to take the rare step of holding a second inquest into Mr Kennedy’s death and has been sent a copy of the full dossier.
The first inquest at St Pancras Coroner’s Court last April resulted in an open verdict but the evidence before the court did not include Mr Whelan’s report.
Any fresh inquiry would almost certainly lead to more high-ranking council officials – former and current staff – being asked to explain whether they were among those who received warnings about electrical safety and how they met the concerns raised by Mr Whelan.
Seen by the New Journal, the dossier was completed in 1995 by Mr Whelan in his job as a maintenance contract quality controller. A year later he sent a further report to the HSE. They were followed up with a series of messages and memos to the council’s top brass. The file has been made available for potential use in court proceedings and Mr Whelan has signed a sworn statement.
“In my time at Camden there was no planned maintenance nor any kind of safety checks on estate lighting,” his statement said.
While the council finally admitted liability for Mr Kennedy’s death a year ago and apologised to relatives through a press statement, the size of damages for his partner Kelly Ivory, who must pay for the upbringing of the couple’s two toddler children, is unresolved. Camden is also still facing court prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive, which could lead to a hefty fine.
Mr Whelan came forward after reading about the inquest into Mr Kennedy’s death in the New Journal. He contacted Hodge, Jones and Allen, the leading Camden law firm based in North Gower Street, which is representing Ms Ivory.
His dossier was kept in the HSE’s archives for more than a decade but not referred to when its inspectors visited Mayford shortly after Mr Kennedy’s death.
Instead, a copy was returned to Mr Whelan at his request earlier this year.
The HSE has reacted to Mr Kennedy’s death by taking firm action and has issued a legal warning that Camden must make sure the rest of its property portfolio has safe electrics. A HSE spokesman said: “We are investigating this case and while that is going on we can’t comment any further.”
Mr Whelan has also met police detectives who investigated the death, and Ms Ivory’s lawyers have queried whether police should re-open their inquiry.
“The incident has been investigated and after consideration and consultation with the CPS, the investigation was closed,” said a Camden police spokesman.
“Further allegations have been received and are now being reviewed and considered.”
In his report, Mr Whelan names General Building and Maintenance Plc as a contractor whose work he repeatedly flagged up.
The company, which at one time would have benefited from a deal worth around £1.5million a year from the council, has been dissolved and investigators who probed Mr Kennedy’s death said they were unable to trace anybody involved with it.
Calls to the offices it once used in Walthamstow this week were not answered and there is no listing for it at Companies House.
In the responses to Mr Whelan’s alerts – also part of the dossier – directors blamed potential faults in workmanship on vandalism. Claims of shoddy work were disputed.
Mr Kennedy lived with Ms Ivory and their children in Royal College Street, Camden Town.
Patrick Allen, from Hodge, Jones and Allen, said: “The evidence which came out at the inquest was bad enough – deliberate cutting of the earth cable by an electrician – but it gets worse.
“We can now see from Mr Whelan’s dossier that he gave Camden officials clear written evidence. Unaccountably, Camden took no action to improve the electrical maintenance of its estates.
“We need an independent public inquiry to get to the bottom of this.”
‘We have effective systems to prevent danger’
IN a statement this week, Camden Council said: “We are extremely sorry for Mr Kennedy’s tragic death and have every sympathy for Kelly Ivory following her loss. We have already accepted liability in relation to the civil claim.
“The council confirms it has received documents from solicitors acting for the family of Ralph Kennedy, which include a number of serious allegations made by a former council employee and a request for an independent inquiry into the allegations.
“We are currently reviewing this information. We are not able to comment in more detail because of the ongoing legal proceedings relating to Mr Kennedy’s tragic death.
“Safety of our residents, staff and visitors is a top priority to us and we continue to ensure we have effective systems in place to prevent danger.
“The council put in place a rigorous programme of electrical testing and inspection, costing around £2million, in spring 2007. This is in addition to the £35million already set aside as part of the council’s five-yearly programme to maintain mechanical and electrical installations such as light fittings, lifts and boilers.”
‘Council has never come to us and said they are sorry’
BARRY Ivory, grandfather to Ralph “Barney” Kennedy’s toddler children, Bailey and Bethany, leafed through the dossier with an angry scowl.
“I don’t think we will ever get justice for Barney,” he said. “I don’t think they want to know.”
Mr Ivory and his daughter Kelly met former council employee Edward Whelan in the offices of Hodge, Jones and Allen on Tuesday. As the father and daughter listened to how Mr Whelan had raised concerns about electrical safety on Camden’s council estates throughout the 1990s, they shook their heads.
Mr Ivory said: “I would thank Mr Whelan for coming forward with his dossier. It doesn’t get any easier, the more you learn about the electrics. It gets harder to take.”
He added: “At the start we just wanted someone to say sorry – but nobody ever did.
“The council said it after the inquest in the papers, but they never wrote to us. They never came to us and said, ‘We’re sorry’. I don’t think the inquest heard all of the evidence and they should hold another one.”
As the council has admitted liability in the case, it is the amount of damages which will go towards the welfare of Bailey, six, and Bethany, four, which is being negotiated. This can be decided by a court if the parties fail to reach an agreement.
Mr Ivory, who lives in Camden Town with wife Julie, said shortly after Mr Kennedy’s death: “When we first met Barney he was a bit wild. Kelly came to me one time and said, ‘I think I’m finishing with him.’ I said, ‘with a bit of training he could be great for you’. And when he had his kids it changed him. Barney would turn his hand to anything to make some money for his kids and Kelly.” |
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