Death of Caerphilly lumberjack crushed by tree accidental

Ben Thomas "loved" his job as a lumberjack

The death of a lumberjack who was crushed by a falling tree was accidental, an inquest has concluded.

Ben Thomas died in Sirhowy Forest, Caerphilly county, on 15 August 2017.

The inquest had heard the 24-year-old was out of sight of his colleagues when a tree which had been leaning against one he had just cut down fell on him.

The Senior Coroner for Gwent Caroline Saunders said there was "insufficient evidence" to suggest he should not have been felling the trees that day.

The inquest had heard how Mr Thomas, of Aberbargoed, who had qualified seven months earlier, had not been due to work on the day of his death but changed his plans after being offered work.

He was being supervised from a distance of approximately 50 metres (164ft) in accordance with industry guidance on safe working.

The inquest jury, sitting in Newport, returned a conclusion of accidental death after being directed to do so by Ms Saunders.

Sirhowy Forest above Cwmfelinfach, Caerphilly county

• Lumberjack out of sight of colleagues when he died

• Lumberjack killed felling trees died from asphyxia

They had heard how Mr Thomas started working for Pontypool based felling company Tree Finesse as a contractor in May 2017, having qualified with a so-called "felling ticket" in January.

The manager of the company, Mark Whitehead, said Mr Thomas had been "safe", had loved his job and had felled about 15,000 trees during his time as a subcontractor.

The inquest jury was told Mr Thomas could not be closely and directly supervised because industry guidance states felling trees is a "one-person job".

One of the country's leading forestry and tree works experts, Martin Lennon, had told the inquest marks on the larch tree which fell on Mr Thomas showed it had been leaning against the tree he had cut "for quite some time".