07-05-2008, 02:38 PM
Copper thief's fatal 11,000 volts
By Andrew Robinson
A SCRAP metal dealer stealing copper from a disused mill accidentally caused a huge electrical explosion, an inquest heard yesterday.
John Roberts, 39, suffered deep burns to his face, arms, hands and chest but managed to leave the mill, climb a high wall and drive to his girlfriend's house several miles away.
His girlfriend, Nina Hurley, said that Mr Roberts arrived screaming at her house around 5am.
"I could hear a strange screaming noise," she said in a statement: "He screamed 'Help me'. He came in and sat down. His breathing was not good, he was going into shock, he could barely speak. His T-shirt had been burnt off and his face was all blackened. His eyelashes and hair were all burnt."
The hearing in Leeds was told that Mr Roberts ââ¬â known to many as Bod ââ¬â was taken to hospital but died on August 14 last year in the burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, 10 days after the accident.
He had suffered deep burns to 37 per cent of his body and died from multiple organ failure, sepsis and burns.
The inquest heard that Mr Roberts, who described himself as a self-employed scrap metal dealer, entered Park Mill in South Street, Morley, by scaling a wall and removing padlocks.
He forcibly entered a locked room containing a transformer, ignoring a warning notice about 11,000 volts and the tell-tale buzzing of the transformer.
Mr Roberts, of Winrose Avenue, Belle Isle, Leeds, was in the process of removing copper bars from a switch box when there was a huge explosion which possibly vaporised the tool he was using.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews...4257291.jp
By Andrew Robinson
A SCRAP metal dealer stealing copper from a disused mill accidentally caused a huge electrical explosion, an inquest heard yesterday.
John Roberts, 39, suffered deep burns to his face, arms, hands and chest but managed to leave the mill, climb a high wall and drive to his girlfriend's house several miles away.
His girlfriend, Nina Hurley, said that Mr Roberts arrived screaming at her house around 5am.
"I could hear a strange screaming noise," she said in a statement: "He screamed 'Help me'. He came in and sat down. His breathing was not good, he was going into shock, he could barely speak. His T-shirt had been burnt off and his face was all blackened. His eyelashes and hair were all burnt."
The hearing in Leeds was told that Mr Roberts ââ¬â known to many as Bod ââ¬â was taken to hospital but died on August 14 last year in the burns unit at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, 10 days after the accident.
He had suffered deep burns to 37 per cent of his body and died from multiple organ failure, sepsis and burns.
The inquest heard that Mr Roberts, who described himself as a self-employed scrap metal dealer, entered Park Mill in South Street, Morley, by scaling a wall and removing padlocks.
He forcibly entered a locked room containing a transformer, ignoring a warning notice about 11,000 volts and the tell-tale buzzing of the transformer.
Mr Roberts, of Winrose Avenue, Belle Isle, Leeds, was in the process of removing copper bars from a switch box when there was a huge explosion which possibly vaporised the tool he was using.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews...4257291.jp