Fiancée of crushed carpenter Craig Page speaks out after settlement

Published: 10th June, 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

THE fiancée of a carpenter who was crushed to death on a Hampstead building site has spoken out after winning compensation for her three-year-old daughter, insisting: “You can’t put a price on life.”

Michelle O’Donoghue said the death of Craig Page has destroyed her life and stolen her daughter’s father forever.

“This has ruined both our lives and no ­money will ever bring him back,” she said.

Mr Page was just 26 when he was killed by the boom arm of a crane as he worked on a site in Denning Road, in March 2009.

The Health and Safety Executive, the government-appointed safety watchdog, is investigating the circumstances and the Crown Prosecution Service are checking the details to see if any charges should be brought. 

Ms O’Donoghue,  who lived with Mr Page at their home in Caledonian Road, Islington, launched a legal bid on behalf of the couple’s daughter Shannon, who was 14 months old when he died.

Contractors Harris Calnan Construction Ltd agreed to settle the case on Tuesday for an undisclosed sum.

Ms O’Donoghue said: “No money can bring him back but I have to safeguard Shannon’s future. 

“She doesn’t remember her dad. All I can tell her is that he’s gone to his new home in heaven, but it gets hard now she’s playing with her friends and they’ve all got their daddies.

“We have a memory box and I show her pictures of him and she’s got a teddy with his photo on, but she’s too young to understand.

“Craig and me used to sit with her in between us and try and get her to walk, but she never did. When I took her out of her buggy on the day of his funeral she walked for the first time.”

Ms O’Donoghue said it was a relief that the High Court case was over – but said many questions remained.

A coroner’s inquest was halted after two key witnesses – the construction site’s director and driver of the crane – refused to comment on how the tragedy unfolded. 

The case has since been adjourned again and is scheduled to take place in September – more than two years after Mr Page’s death.

Ms O’Donoghue added: “The inquest hasn’t happened yet and I still don’t know how and why it happened. But even when I get the answers to those questions I don’t think I’ll feel any different. I’m angry.” 

Harris Calnan declined to comment when contacted by the Tribune.