Builder fell through studio ceiling

‘unDer pressure’ Inquest verdict on father’s fatal roof plunge

Mr Newitt’s fiancee Jemma Webb told the inquest on several occasions her partner said he felt under pressure from the company to work quickly and put in long hours.

She said he was an excellent father who would always go out of his way to help people

Several employees and Mr Newitt’s son, George, told the hearing he preferred to work quickly and felt happy in his job.

Mr Newitt’s sister, Kirsty, said the verdict had been a long time coming: “It was the verdict I was expecting I suppose. At least we have some closure and can try to move on a bit.

“What happened is a tragic situation and hopefully we can learn from what has gone on. It was a great loss, he was a great man.”

The site, owned by Maidstone Studios Ltd since 2002, has hosted Elton John and Jools Holland. A builder sustained fatal injuries after falling through a weakened section of the ceiling he had been cutting at the Maidstone Studios, an inquest heard.

Justin Newitt, 38, plunged more than five metres while carrying out conversion works at the TV hub in New Cut Road, Vinters Park, on Wednesday, September 23, 2015.

A three-day hearing into the Downswood father- of- two’s death heard the maintenance worker – described by peers as extremely competent and the “go to guy” – had gone against instructions by climbing into a cramped roof space and cutting down into the roof from above, instead of from a scaffold tower set up for that purpose.

Just before 8.30am a lead for the electric chainsaw Mr Newitt was using got twisted.

While trying to untangle it, 18-stone Mr Newitt stepped backwards on to a piece of roof he had already cut.

It gave way, and he fell, hitting the side of the scaffold tower and then the floor.

Mark Newitt, Justin’s uncle and maintenance manager, arrived to find Mr Newitt on the ground with two whole sections of the ceiling hanging down just beside him.

“Straight away I could see it was bad,” he said.

Mr Newitt suffered head injuries and a tear to his liver. He died the same day.

An investigation found the studios, in Vinters Park, breached regulations by not carrying out a written risk assessment before the project began.

But the inquest heard several comprehensive meetings had happened addressing how the work had been done. Mr Newitt and others were repeatedly told not to cut from the roof – something he did the day before he fell.

Lee Hunt, a fellow maintenance worker, said he challenged Mr Newitt about him leaving the safety of the scaffold tower but his colleague told him he found it easier to cut from the roof.

Mr Newitt was part of a fourman team converting an empty television suite into data storage centre for rows of servers.

The project had reached the stage of cutting four holes in the roof to fit air conditioning.

Site director Rowland Kinch said he had found workers on the roof previously, but they had only been cutting felt from the surface, not the fabric of the roof itself.

The jury gave a verdict of misadventure.