Two farmhands suffocated in Earl’s apple storeroom
Manager made them get prize fruit from oxygen-free chamber, jury told
Two farmhands died in an oxygenstarved storeroom while selecting prize apples for a fruit competition, a court heard yesterday.
Scott Cain, 23, and Ashley Clarke, 24, were found unconscious in a cold room on a 2,500-acre property owned by the Earl of Selborne, Tory peer John Palmer.
Mr Cain had allegedly been told by farm manager Andrew Stocker to enter the cooler and select apples while holding his breath.
The container was kept cold by the use of nitrogen – meaning the air contained only 1 per cent oxygen, way below the 21 per cent needed for life. Going into the chamber without breathing apparatus was known as ‘scuba diving’ among workers at the Blackmoor Estate near Liss in Hampshire.
Jurors heard the safe method of using a metal hook to select apples was not deemed adequate by Stocker because the fruit had to be perfect for the prestigious Marden Fruit Show in west Malling, Kent.
He is on trial at winchester Crown Court accused of unlawfully killing Mr Cain and Mr Clarke by gross negligence on February 18, 2013.
The court heard that Stocker, 57, took a blase approach to the dangers of the cold store.
Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting, said: ‘Breathing apparatus should have been used even when using the approved method involving a hook to inspect the fruit. It would be blindingly obvious to anyone who went in a controlled atmosphere like this without equipment that they would be in trouble.’
He told jurors Mr Cain, a father of one, would take a deep breath before entering the controlled atmosphere in the container via a small hatch. on the day he died he had retrieved ten apples on each of ten attempts. Mr Clarke, an amateur rugby player, was standing on the container’s roof to keep watch.
‘The level of oxygen inside was reduced to around 1 per cent,’ said Mr Dennis. ‘This level was well below the amount of oxygen you need to sustain human life.
‘The only way a person would survive would be if breathing apparatus was being used. The moment the person’s air ran out and they tried to draw a breath would result in them collapsing and they would succumb to the effect of oxygen deprivation.
‘The fatal result would have been inevitable in such cramped and dangerous circumstances.’
Mr Dennis said both men were found lying motionless on the top of apple boxes. Frantic colleagues tried to resuscitate them but they were pronounced dead at the scene. He added: ‘Mr Stocker instructed the men to go and get the fruit knowing full well that this scuba diving technique would be used.
‘This was an accident waiting to happen and sadly two young men have paid the price for gross negligence in the workplace.’
The jury was told Stocker was very experienced and had spent many years in charge of the packhouse.
The court heard he was on holiday in the Maldives on the day in question. Before he left he had ordered Mr Cain to retrieve from the container a selection of apples for the upcoming show.
He said: ‘He himself has carried out this highly risky procedure over the years. He instructed Scott Cain to gather the samples.’
Mr Cain, from Liphook, Hampshire, was engaged to his long-term girlfriend Filipa Turner and had a young daughter called Isla. Mr Clarke, from nearby Liss, was also engaged, to his girlfriend, Rachel.
Lord Selborne, 75, entered the House of Lords in 1992, becoming a hereditary peer in 1999.
Blackmoor Estate has been growing and storing fruit since the 1920s and has a reputation for high-quality storage and service, winning numerous awards.
Stocker, from Bordon, Hampshire, denies the charges and the trial continues.