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BARNEY: WHO CUT THE WIRE?
Catalogue of errors led to scaffolder’s tragic death
A MYSTERIOUSLY cut wire and poor safety standards led to the electrocution death of a young scaffolder, an inquest heard this week.
A two-day investigation on Monday and Tuesday revealed the scandal behind the death of Ralph Kennedy, the popular scaffolder universally known by the boyhood nickname Barney.
He was electrocuted when he touched a faulty light fitting as he worked on the refurbishment of the Mayford estate in Somers Town in September.
The inquest heard how:
• The safety ‘earth’ wire in the light fitting had been cut – apparently deliberately.
• Electrical equipment on the estate had been left to rust without any regular checks in more than 20 years.
• Camden relied upon residents to flag up faults rather than testing estate lights.
• Other lamps on the estate were in serious disrepair and in a dangerous condition.
• The Town Hall was unable to provide records pinpointing which workers had attended to the light – or even a general blueprint of the estate. > Full story |
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‘Close schools for Muslim holidays’
Days off for festivals would improve results – report
CLOSING schools on the Muslim holy day of Eid would help pupils achieve better results, according to a new report commissioned by the Town Hall’s education department. > more |
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Save water centre plea - THE desperate chairman of a popular waterside youth club wrote a begging letter to Camden telling them: “It will be a tragedy if we... > more
‘Snoop’ website taken down - A CONTROVERSIAL council website exposed by the New Journal for putting pictures of every home in the borough on the internet... > more
Schools blamed for traffic chaos - UNDER-fire parking chiefs have hit back at private schools for misleading parents after an action group accused Camden... > more
Colombia link in search for estate agent accused of theft - FRAUD squad detectives searching for a second estate agent charged with an alleged theft from... > more
Zone ‘tackles gang disorder’ - THE Town Hall has imposed a dispersal zone to deal with what the council called a “recent upsurge in youth and gang disorder in... > more
Land sale plans spark ‘We’ll get nothing from it’ protest - PRIME real estate in Somers Town is likely to fall into the hands of a developer, dashing residents’... > more
Asbo threat lifted but ball ban remains - A THREAT to slap parents who let their children play football at the back of their estate with an Asbo has been withdrawn... > more
Mayor’s outburst: We’re at the mercy of gangs - POLICE and the council are ignoring the plight of residents besieged by gangs, the council’s Mayor told her own... > more
Underground storage row - AN underground car park on an estate in Kentish Town is to be leased to a private storage company for half-a-million pounds, to the... > more
Cops go to Poland in hunt for Magda - DETECTIVES are jetting off to Poland as part of an international manhunt for a key witness to the drowning of a Big Issue... > more
Flipping Becks, he wants a jacket - WHEN a large silver Bentley pulled into a loading bay in Camden High Street outside House of Leather clothing shop on... > more
Shot student’s words inspire mum’s tribute - FOUR years to the day after Tufnell Park student Tom Hurndall was shot in the head in Israeli-occupied Gaza... > more
From blooms to scones, gardeners serve up a prize-winning taste of spring - GARDENERS were rewarded for their painstaking efforts at Hampstead... > more |
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