Mark Milsome inquest: 'No safety briefing' before stunt that killed cameraman

Mark Milsome's credits included work on Sherlock, Game of Thrones and Quantum of Solace

There was "no safety briefing" before a Land Rover ploughed towards a cameraman while shooting a stunt sequence, an inquest has heard.

Mark Milsome, 54, of Builth Wells, Powys, died in Ghana in November 2017 while working on Black Earth Rising for the BBC and Netflix.

West London Coroner's Court was told that the car was supposed to go up a ramp and topple over.

But instead the vehicle went towards the manned camera.

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In a statement read at the inquest, Paul Kemp said he saw the car approaching but "realised something was wrong because it was going faster than in rehearsals".

Mr Kemp, who was injured in the incident, added: "I remember pulling Mark but the vehicle was too fast."

The experienced cameraman had been working at the time for Forgiving Earth Limited, producers of the series which stars John Goodman and Michaela Coel.

Mr Kemp, who also gave evidence on Wednesday, said he had been there as an "extra pair of eyes" in his role as a "grip" - someone in charge of camera support equipment and to help camera operators.

He told the inquest he had no safety concerns ahead of the stunt, having checked "multiple times" with the stunt co-ordinator if the position he and Mr Milsome would be in was safe.

In his statement he added: "I asked again about camera B (manned by Mr Milsome), checking the position was alright. John [Smith, the stunt co-ordinator] said 'As long as you're with him'."

'No safety briefing'

Barrister Adrian Waterman QC, representing Mr Milsome's birth family, said to Mr Kemp: "Your understanding was that even if, contrary to the assurances, anything had gone wrong you were there to pull him out of the way?

"Nobody explained to you that you would have had a fraction of a second? You weren't to know that?"

Mr Kemp replied he was not, and there had been no overall safety briefing for crew, which he would have expected before the stunt.

Mr Milsome's father Doug Milsome, an accomplished cinematographer who has worked with Stanley Kubrick and on Bond films, told the inquest the standards of professional stunt crew and producers "should never have allowed" his son to die during the shoot.

The inquest continues.