Man died after lawnmower fell on him, inquest told

Kamil Grygieniec died while at work in North Stainley, near Ripon, in October 2021

A groundworker died from head injuries after the sit-on lawnmower he was operating fell on top of him on the last day of his job, an inquest has heard.

Kamil Grygieniec, 23, of Northallerton, was found dead, face down in a pond, after he had been cutting grass on an inclined bank on Watermill Lane in North Stainley, near Ripon, on Friday 8 October 2021, a jury on the first day of the inquest into his death was told.

Senior coroner Jon Heath had earlier told jury members they would need to decide whether Mr Grygieniec's death could have been avoided.

In a statement to the inquest in Thirsk, Mr Grygieniec's mother, Ava, said her "hard-working and popular" son died on the last day of his job.

She added that Mr Grygieniec, who had been living with his parents in their family home, had been due to start another role the following Monday.

"He was an easy-going, popular boy who had a very bright future ahead of him, and his friends said it felt like they lost a brother as he lit up other people's lives," she said.

"He was born in Poland but we moved here as he had recurring chest infections as a child and the UK had better healthcare."

She added that she had a "close relationship" with her son and he "loved fresh air and was a hard worker, so working as a landscape gardener was perfect for him".

'Risky and steep'

The inquest heard that a post-mortem examination found Mr Grygieniec had suffered "sharp blunt force injuries" to the left side of his head caused by the impact of the mower.

Police and ambulance crews had found him submerged and face down in a pond under the lawnmower and he was pronounced dead at the scene at 16:45 BST.

The inquest also heard drowning was not considered to have played a part in Mr Grygieniec's death, nor alcohol or medication.

In a witness statement, Glyn Horner, who lived in North Stainley, said he had seen a gardener and remembered thinking the area he was mowing looked "risky and steep, but he was not driving erratically".

Francis Ellis, from the Health and Safety Executive, who examined the mower after the incident, told the inquest the device was not fitted with a rollover protection system.

She added that Mr Grygieniec was also not wearing a seatbelt, so there was nothing to stop him from having contact with the machine during the incident.

"He would have rolled over with the machine with quite a lot of force and inertia as it was taking place on a big slope on a steep bank while the blades were still moving," Ms Ellis explained.

John Holroyd, a former colleague of Mr Grygieniec at MHS Countryside Management, told the jury he had not personally received training on using equipment and did not see any documents about how to use the mower.

However, another MHS colleague, Jordan Dickinson, said in a statement to the inquest that "if workers didn't want to do anything they felt was unsafe, they could just say to management and they were supportive".

Mr Dickinson also said that he had been shown how to use the equipment when he started.

The inquest continues.

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