Dad dies walking home from pub after storm blows over safety railings around open manhole

Retired NHS nurse Andrew Barker was found dead in a manhole which had been dug by gas engineers days after Storm Isha ravaged Britain, with a site worker spotting a "pair of legs" sticking out

A father-of-two died after falling head first down a manhole while walking back from the pub after safety barriers were blown over during a storm, an inquest heard.

Retired NHS nurse Andrew Barker, 56, was found dead in the hole, which had been dug by gas engineers, in January. An inquest into his death heard a worker at the site noticed "a pair of legs" sticking out of the hole in Bradford, West Yorkshire, at 7am on Monday, January 22.

Bradford Coroners Court heard safety barriers around the roadworks had been blown everywhere and the manhole was uncovered. Paramedics tried to treat Andrew but there were no signs of life and he was pronounced dead at 7.29am.

Storm Isha had ravaged Britain the weekend before and an amber weather warning for wind was put in place by the Met Office. Matthew Deekes, who managed the site on behalf of subcontractors, said the barriers were in place with sandbags when he left work at 4pm on the Friday.

The court heard additional support teams were put in place for Northern Gas Networks' sites in Bradford across that weekend, in anticipation of the storm. The teams used roughly 40 extra sandbags on Sunday evening, after even more were added earlier, the court heard.

Detective Sergeant Lee Worsnam from West Yorkshire Police told the court no CCTV or eyewitnesses, were found. He hypothesised that Andrew could have been trying to take a shortcut home between the barriers and a garden wall.

The court also heard other theories that he may have tripped over a tuft of grass or the barriers if they were down. But there was no evidence to determine whether the barriers were up properly or not when Andrew passed the hole.

Coroner Martin Fleming said there "could have been any number of combinations that caused him to precipitate into this manhole." A post-mortem revealed Andrew's respiratory function was impaired due to the position he was in and that his death was "immediate".

A toxicology report showed he had 125 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, slightly above the drink drive limit of 80mcg. A pathologist also found a "level of alcohol which could play a part in impairing judgement." The post-mortem concluded that Andrew died from postural asphyxiation and alcohol intoxication.

But Mr Fleming made it clear that Andrew was not "substantially over the limit". Fraser Anderson, who had been drinking with Andrew, said he was "fresh" when leaving his house but not "wobbling" and "didn't seem drunk". Andrew had been in his local pub, the Boars Head, when Mr Anderson wandered in at 10pm on Sunday, January 21.

He said at midnight, the pair decided to head back to Mr Anderson's house, just down from the pub, to drink, chat and listen to music. The court heard they had a couple of drinks at the house and a glass of whisky before Andrew said "something like 'I'm off'" between 2am and 2.30am. Andrew qualified as a nurse in 1989 and began working on Ward 10 at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

A family statement, from ex-wife Sam and daughters Holly and Hannah, said that patients "loved his bedside manner" and often "didn't want to leave you and go home." The family had "many happy memories" with Andrew who they said "was a joker and loved to make people laugh."

He was described as being "mischievous", "intelligent" and "scarily quick-witted" and a stalwart in the community. Steven, Andrew's younger brother by 18 months and only sibling, said his death has had "a massive impact on the family but also many, many friends."