Grieving fiancée launches £1m damages bid
THE fiancée of a carpenter crushed to death on a building site has launched a High Court bid for £1million compensation.
The legal move comes nine months after the death of Craig Page, 26, who died when a crane in Hampstead toppled on top of him.
Mr Page’s fiancée Michelle O’Donoghue, who lived with him and their toddler daughter in Caledonian Road, Holloway, is suing construction firm Harris Calnan for negligence, according to the writ filed by her lawyer, Suzanne Gulshan, of Romain Coleman Solicitors.
The claim follows the halting of an inquest into Mr Page’s death in September, which left his fiancée and partner of 10 years frustrated after two key witnesses – the construction site’s director and the driver of the crane – refused to comment on how the tragedy unfolded.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid adjourned his investigation after they said they would answer “no comment” to any questions on the case until separate police and health and safety investigations were completed.
Ms O’Donoghue, 29, said Mr Page would have had 40 years of working life ahead of him and that she remained determined to find out what happened and whether someone was at fault.
“You can’t put a figure on a life,” she said. “I’ll never be happy. It’s hard for me not to know what happened.”
The writ alleges Harris Calnan failed to carry out a risk assessment of the site and that staff did not have access to a safe work place. It claims the crane was unsuitable for the site and that required safety checks were not carried out.
Harris Calnan declined to comment about the case when contacted by the Tribune.
CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS