Inquiry continues into church death

AN INVESTIGATION into the death of a worker who was killed when a derelict church collapsed in Cardiff is still ongoing more than a year later, police confirmed yesterday.

Jeffrey Plevey, 55, was found under rubble at the site of the former Citadel building, previously the Mount Hermon Primitive Methodist Chapel, in Adamsdown on July 18 last year.

Concerns had been raised about the safety of the building before its collapse.

Approval had been granted to turn the former chapel on the corner of Splott Road and Pearl Street into a housing block.

An application was made in November 2016 to demolish the building, which was described at the time as “potentially dangerous”.

It said the three-storey building was in a poor condition.

There was no ceiling to the ground floor, and the internal plaster was damp, hollow and cracked.

The back of the building was described as “partially collapsed”, the front and sides were showing signs of cracking and a number of the windows were broken and boarded up.

There was also concern it was a risk of collapse towards the railway line.

People living near the building described it as an “accident waiting to happen”.

Pictures taken before it collapsed showed the steeple and roof being held together by pieces of wood.

Train lines were closed between Cardiff and Newport as dozens of emergency workers with rescue dogs and a drone worked on the collapsed site just before 3pm on July 18 last year.

The body of Mr Plevey, from Cardiff, was recovered from the site between 8pm and 9pm that night.

Two other people who escaped were treated for minor injuries.

Mr Plevey had been working on the demolition of the Citadel.

A keen golfer, and member of Wenvoe Castle Golf Club, his family paid tribute to the hard-working dad who was described as “the life and soul of any gathering”.

South Wales Police have now confirmed the investigation is ongoing more than a year later, with no prosecutions in the case.

The Health and Safety Executive is also involved in the investigation.