A dad of two died while repairing his car when the axle stand he was using slipped. An inquest was held into the death of Deniel Burton, 27, who was found trapped under the car.
Despite the best efforts of neighbours who tried to lift the car off him, and of the emergency services who rushed to the scene, he could not be saved. The inquest, held at Swansea’s Guildhall court, told of how Mr Burton was passionate about football and cars.
As a boy he was described as “happy go lucky” and “a likeably cheeky chap” and as someone who preferred being up and about to sitting at a desk, reports Wales Online.
After leaving St Joseph’s School, the Cardiff City fan trained as a mechanic and at the time of his death was working at K&J Motors in Pencoed and was just a week away from qualifying as an MoT tester.
He was described in court as a “devoted” partner and dad, and it was said that “becoming a father was the making of Daniel”.
The court heard that on the day in question – January 22 this year – Mr Burton went to college where he was working towards his MoT qualification then went with his partner and children to Swansea’s Penlan Leisure Centre before the family went back to his partner’s house on Southall Avenue in Skewen.
Despite the darkness and the lateness of the hour, Mr Burton was said to be keen to start work on his Audi A3 having just got the part he needed for the repair.
The court heard that a number of passers-by later reported seeing Mr Burton working under the car. The Audi was raised up on the driver’s side and its rear wheels had been removed.
Mr Burton could be seen laying on his back with his torso and head under the car and his legs stuck out.
The inquest heard one passer-by said she had thought the car looked unsafe and wondered whether she should stop and say something but decided the mechanic underneath would not appreciate the comment.
Mr Burton’s body was discovered at around 6.30pm by a woman who was driving around the streets of Skewen with her sister looking for her recently stolen car.
The inquest heard the woman stopped to ask the man under the A3 whether he had seen anything but she got no response from him – realising what had happened she raised the alarm.
A neighbour rushed to the scene and used a jack to try and lift the car off his friend, and Mr Burton’s partner was told what had happened.
The emergency services were called and firefighters, ambulance crews and police were soon in attendance.
Mr Burton was pronounced dead at the scene at 6.53pm and an investigation was launched.
An examination of the scene found a jack and one axle stand laying on its side underneath the car with another axle stand still in its box. The police investigation found no suspicious circumstances.
The inquest heard that a post mortem examination was carried out on Mr Burton and the cause of death was determined to be traumatic asphyxiation, also known as “crush asphyxiation”.
Coroner Colin Phillips said Mr Burton was a qualified mechanic who was working on his car which was parked on a sloped street.
He said it appeared that, due to the nature of the sloped street, the axle stand slipped and trapped the father-of-two underneath the vehicle. A finding of accidental death was recorded.
The coroner expressed his condolences to the family of Mr Burton in court and said he was sure the mechanic was “much much loved and sorely missed”.