RSPCA inspector died trying to save gannets from rock
AN RSPCA inspector died after trying to rescue dozens of gannets stranded in a storm, an inquest heard yesterday.
Mike Reid, 54, became the first RSPCA officer to die on duty for 180 years after he was swept out to sea on rocks near Land’s End.
The father of three’s body has never been found despite an extensive search by the police, coastguard and his employer. Mr Reid, who had served with the RSPCA for more than 30 years, answered an alert to save about 40 seabirds at Porthchapel Beach in February 2016.
He was last heard asking for directions to the rescue site from his van at the start of Storm Imogen, which at the time was battering the country with winds of up to 100mph.
No one at the RSPCA knew he had failed to return from the evening call- out until his wife raised the alarm the next morning, the inquest in Truro, Cornwall, heard. Mr Reid worked independently – starting and finishing at home in Redruth and made his own risk assessments at the scene, the coroner was told.
On call-outs, he was supposed to press an alert on his Personal Data Assistant, which would relay his whereabouts to staff at the RSPCA when he was ‘ back at base’. It was never pressed.
Emma O’Hara, from the Health and Safety Executive, said that had monitoring been more robust, the alarm could have been raised earlier. She said: ‘In this case, Mr Reid wasn’t able to set his PDA to back at base but that wasn’t picked up by the company. It was clear no one tried to check in with him to see where he was.’
The RSPCA said it had since strengthened safety protocols for staff. On the day of his disappearance, the RSPCA received a call from Caitlin Finch, who reported of a flock of gannets trapped on the rocks. In a statement read to the inquest, Mrs Finch revealed she had received a call from Mr Reid at his van saying he was trying to locate the birds. She said: ‘I was concerned about the weather and I remember saying to the man, “be careful”. He told me it was really windy and he had almost been blown off.’ Nothing was heard of him after that. The inquest was told Mr Reid, who had two daughters and a son, was the first RSPCA inspector to die on duty for 180 years. The day after his disappearance, Mr Reid’s radio and a few dead birds were found on a path leading down to the beach. His wife, Tracey, 50, attended the inquest. She said she had struggled to come to terms with her the disappearance of her ‘best friend’ and described the years of waiting for any news of him as ‘hell’. Mrs Reid added: ‘Michael worked for the RSPCA, it was a job he loved and he would regularly bring animals home for us to keep.’ The inquest, which is expected to conclude today, continues.