Farm machinery engineer died trying to fix digger

AMUCH-LOVED father-offour who had a life-long farming background died after being crushed under a JCB tractor he was repairing.

Stephen Rockett had gone to a farm close to where he lived in Okehampton on May 6, 2021, to fix a JCB which had a fault with its gears.

The 53-year-old self-employed agricultural engineer had been working alone, a jury inquest at Exeter’s County Hall heard. He suffered fatal injuries when he reconnected some wiring causing him to be trapped by a rotating wheel of the digger.

Mr Rockett, who was born in North Tawton, was discovered unresponsive underneath the tractor, which still had its engine running, by an employee who had returned back to the farm.

An air ambulance arrived at the scene and the crew confirmed he has passed away.

An investigation concluded it was a ‘tragic accident’. A post mortem examination confirmed the cause of his death was crushed asphyxia.

Mr Rockett’s wife told in a statement how he had worked in agricultural engineering since leaving school and had gone on to set up his own business.

The jury heard it was ‘normal’ practice for him to attend jobs alone to fix agricultural machinery and vehicles.

Mrs Rockett said: “He would always do anything to help others and was very friendly with a lot of his customers.” On the day of his death, he had been tasked with fixing a digger belonging to a family friend he had known for many years and done much work for.

Mrs Rockett said: “I’m very shocked at what has happened. He was always safety conscious around his work.” She added: “He was not a risk-taker.

“I only hope this devastating incident occurred quickly meaning he did not suffer.”

A police investigation confirmed there was no third party involvement or foul play so it was referred to the Health and Safety Executive as a work-related death. Vehicle examiner Mark Richards confirmed the digger had a transmission fault that meant it could not drive in third and fourth gear.

He stated the offside of the rear of the vehicle had been raised from the ground but the JCB had not moved forwards or rearwards when Mr Rockett had been crushed.

He added that when Mr Rockett had reconnected wiring while underneath the vehicle, entrapment with the rotating rear wheel would have happened very quickly and he would have been unable to escape from it.

Mr Richards concluded: “It appears to be a tragic accident where the engineer was caught and trapped by a rotating wheel. The lowering of the wheel is likely to be a secondary event after the casualty was trapped.”

Evidence was also heard from Health and Safety Executive inspector Melissa Lai-Hung who confirmed the JCB was in a poor state of repair but that had not contributed to Mr Rockett’s death.

She concluded: “Mr Rockett sadly had not been following industry guidance in terms of a safe system of work for identifying systems underneath the JCB.

He had become trapped and suffered fatal crush injuries.”

She added hydraulics should not be relied on alone as they have been known to fail.

The jury returned a conclusion of accidental death.

Area coroner Alison Longhorn passed her condolences onto the family and said: “It is really evident Stephen was much loved and is greatly missed,” she said.

“I am aware on Sunday a memorial tractor ride took place for him in aid of Devon Air Ambulance and almost £4,000 was raised so he is clearly missed by the local community.”

‘I am aware that a memorial tractor ride took place for Stephen Rockett. He was much loved and is greatly missed’’ CORONER ALISON LONGHORN