Inquest into civil engineer’s death

A jury has been hearing how a grandfather was killed when a wall at a school in Bath fell on him.

The coroner’s court hearing into the death of Gary Anstey opened on Monday and was set to continue all week at a special sitting of the Avon Coroner at Ashton Court.

The inquest has heard how the civil engineer, from Bristol, was seriously injured when he was working for building contractor H Mealing & Sons to construct a new classroom at Swainswick Primary School in Bath on March 19, 2019.

The civil engineer, who turned 57 just two days before the incident, was airlifted to Southmead Hospital but died from his injuries the following day, March 20.

The Avon coroner opened the inquest at Ashton Court on Monday and a jury was sworn in to come to a verdict in the case, which is expected by the end of this week.

Mr Anstey , right, was survived by his wife Anne, sons Shaun and Scott, granddaughter Scarlet, who was just five months old at the time of his death, and stepgrandchildren Garylee, then aged 12, and Emily, then aged eight.

After his death, Anne said he had been working at the school for nine months and the incident which killed him happened just days before the project they were working on was due to finish.

“He went to work as usual,” said Anne paying tribute to her husband just after the tragedy. “You don’t expect your husband to go to work and not return home. He had been working at the school for nine months and the project was scheduled to finish last Friday. All we know is that a wall fell down. It was just devastating.”

Anne attended the inquest for the first two days, although Tuesday’s evidence was heard just in the morning.

His funeral, held at the South Bristol Crematorium on May 9, 2019, saw standing-room-only as hundreds crammed into the service, and many memories were shared of a man who loved his darts, his family and a can of Thatchers cider.

The inquest is set to continue for the rest of this week.