31 May 2023 , 12:11
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A girl screamed “they’re trapped” after she found her dad stuck under a collapsed wall next to his dying son.
Scott-Swaley Stevens was helping his dad knock down a garage wall at their home in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, on October 21 last year.
But during the father-son time, the wall suddenly collapsed on them both, an inquest heard.
The 12-year-old was trapped underneath a pile of rubble, dying, alongside his dad who suffered a suspected broken arm.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services who scrambled to the incident, Scott-Swaley died at the scene.
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They weren’t discovered until his sister raised the alarm, going inside and shouting to her mother, “help mum, daddy and Swaley are trapped under the wall”.
Tributes left to the 12-year-old boyMum Charmaine Lee then went to the fire station next door, shouting “help, my baby is trapped”, today's hearing in Chelmsford was told.
Essex senior coroner, Lincoln Brookes, concluded that Scott-Swaley’s death was an “extraordinarily tragic accident”.
Mr Stevens told police, in a statement read by the coroner: “The wall fell onto us both after we had rocked it to push it over.
“I didn’t use any tools to complete this.
The aftermath of the tragedy that took the life of the young boy (East Anglia News Service)“It fell onto us within seconds which I couldn’t stop.”
He said he believed they were “trapped under the wall for the next two hours but no-one could hear us”, but Ms Lee told the inquest she believed they had been outside for about five minutes.
The coroner said that he suspected the amount of time was “much less” than Mr Stevens believed, noting he was “in a great deal of pain and a great deal of distress” after the wall collapsed.
Firefighter Simon Tarrant said, in a statement read by the coroner, that Ms Lee shouted for help at the fire station that was next door to their home.
The family's home in Clacton, essex (East Anglia News Service)He said when firefighters went out people were “frantically trying to move the rubble”.
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Detective Inspector James Hardingham said police were called by the fire service at 6.56pm and Scott-Swaley was pronounced dead at the scene.
He said both the rear and front of the lean-to garage had already been removed, “leaving one external wall standing”.
“They rocked the wall but, unfortunately, it rocked backwards onto them,” said Mr Hardingham.
Scott's mum raced to the fire station next door to plead for help (East Anglia News Service)He added that the family had “bought the property to renovate and sell for a profit”.
The coroner said the home was “in the process of renovation and the family were largely staying in a caravan at the time”.
“They were doing it themselves,” Mr Brookes said.
He continued: “Following a fish and chip supper, Swaley and his father Scott went out it seems, and I find they went out to have a go at finishing the garage or at least to inspect what was due next.”
Mr Brookes recorded that Scott-Swaley died of compression asphyxia after the wall collapsed on them.
The inquest at Essex Coroner's heard how the death was an 'extraordinarily tragic accident' (Google Streetview)“The weight of the wall put such pressure on his chest that his heart couldn’t work properly,” said Mr Brookes.
“His blood couldn’t reach his brain, he went unconscious and died.”
He said it was an “extraordinarily tragic accident”, adding: “He was a 12-year-old boy with his whole life ahead of him.”
Paying tribute, his devastated parents said he was a "well-loved boy" with lots of friends, that he "will be missed by so many" and that "as a family, we cannot explain the hurt we feel and we are broken".