A MAN has died from severe injuries after he climbed inside a recyclable waste bin and probably fell asleep before it was emptied, an inquest heard today.
Vitalij Maceljuch, 36, born in Ukraine but a Czech national, had got into the bin near a Wren store in Sealand Road, Chester, in the middle of the night.
Vitalij Maceljuch had got into the bin near a Wren store in Sealand Road, Chester
But he was emptied with cardboard into a Biffa lorry, and crushed, despite the driver’s checks including shaking the bin on the forks.
Police were called in May last year to the Thorncliffe waste management site at Alltami, Flintshire, after Mr Maceljuch’s body was dumped among rubbish.
The body had travelled along a conveyor belt, staff thinking it was a mannequin at first.
Assistant coroner David Lewis at Ruthin said Mr Maceljuch, of no fixed address, had a drug history in North Wales and Cheshire and traces of cannabis and amphetamine were in his body.
Home Office pathologist Dr Jonathan Medcalf said :”It’s possible he was experiencing some of the effects of the substances at the time of his death.”
There were severe injuries to the head and neck area – massive cranio-cervical disruption.
The Health and Safety Executive said there was a “danger of death” warning sign on the bin.
The drugs taken by Mr Maceljuch could cause drowsiness and it was likely he had been asleep in the bin.
CCTV footage showed him entering the bin at 4am.
The HSE was satisfied neither the driver nor the two waste companies were at fault.
The coroner recorded a conclusion of misadventure and that Mr Maceljuch died at the skip site at Alltami on May 10, last year.
“It’s highly likely his death occurred some time before his arrival at that location,” Mr Lewis remarked, however.
“It seems to be a case of an act of misadventure in that Mr Maceljuch died as a result of actions which were intentional but had unintended consequences.”
No family were at the hearing.
The coroner recorded a conclusion of misadventure Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
