Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2013

Archibold Wellbelove

Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2013-0324, written 4 Dec 2013. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.

Date of report4 Dec 2013
Reference2013-0324
DeceasedArchibold Wellbelove
CoronerR Brittain
Coroner areaWarwickshire
CategoryRoad (Highways Safety) related deaths
Sourcejudiciary.uk record · original PDF
Responses published1

The report

Text recovered by OCR from a scanned PDF. OCR is imperfect: check anything you rely on against the source PDF. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.

REGULATION 28: REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS

THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO:

Chief Executive - Warwickshire County Council

1 CORONER

lam R Brittain, Assistant Coroner for Warwickshire

2 | CORONER'S LEGAL POWERS

| make this report under paragraph 7, Schedule 5, of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009
and regulations 28 and 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013.

3 | INVESTIGATION and INQUEST

On 10" December 2012 an investigation was commenced into the death of Archibold
WELLBELOVE, aged 18 years old. The investigation concluded at the end of the
inquest on 22 November 2013. The conclusion of the inquest was narrative (Copy
attached).

4 | CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH

Mr Weltbelove died in the early hours of December 7 2012, after being struck by a Taxi
on the Kenilworth-bound carriageway of the A452. There had been a recent change in
the County Council's night-lighting policy, which resulted in this section of road being
unlit at the time of his death.

5 | CORONER’S CONCERNS

During the course of the inquest the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern, In
my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken. In the
circumstances it is my statutory duty to report to you.

The MATTERS OF CONCERN are as follows. —

(1) failure of the Council to review its night-lighting policy with specific regard to the
circumstances of Mr Wellbelove’s death; to include consideration of :
e evidence that pedestrians regularly use the road during the unlit hours; and
e evidence that pedestrians, during the unlit hours, may not be aware of the
presence of a footpath on the Leamington-bound side of the road, at the point of

discontinuation of the footpath on the Kenilworth-bound side of the road.

ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you as Chief
Executive of the Council have the power to take such action.

YOUR RESPONSE

You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report,
namely by 29 January 2014. |, the coroner, may extend the period.

Your response must contain details of action taken or proposed to be taken, setting out
the timetable for action. Otherwise you must explain why no action is proposed.

COPIES and PUBLICATION

| have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the following Interested
Persons (a) The Wellbelove Family and (b) (Taxi Driver).

lam also under a duty to send the Chief Coroner a copy of your response.

The Chief Coroner may publish either or both in a complete or redacted or summary
form. He may send a copy of this report to any person who he believes may find it useful
or of interest. You may make representations to me, the coroner, at the time of your
response, about the release or the publication of your response by the Chief Coroner.

4 December 2013
Assistant Coroner R Brittain

Responses

1 response published against this report on judiciary.uk. A response is a body's written reply to the coroner's concerns; publication is at the discretion of the Chief Coroner's office, so an absent response does not mean nobody replied.

Response from Warwickshire County Council (PDF)
Your ref: Warwickshire

County Council
The Coroner’s Office Resources Group
Justice Centre P.O. Box 9, Shire Hall

Warwick, CV34 4RR

Newbold Terrace DX 723362 Warwick 5

Leamington Spa

CV32 4EL

31 March 2014

Dear Sir
REGULATION 28 REPORT: ARCHIBALD WELLBELOVE

At the request of the Chief Executive, | am writing on behalf of Warwickshire County Council
to respond to the Regulation 28 Report issued by the Assistant Coroner, Dr Richard Brittain,
on 4" December 2013. Although the Report was posted to the County Council, we have no
record of receiving it and did not become aware of its contents until 3” February 2014. In
consequence, the Assistant Coroner agreed to extend the time for responding to 31* March
2014.

In his Report, the Assistant Coroner identified the following concerns:

Failure of the Council to review its night-lighting policy with specific regard to the
circumstances of Mr Wellbelove’s death; to include consideration of:

. evidence that pedestrians regularly use the road during unlit hours; and

. evidence that pedestrians, during the unlit hours, may not be aware of the presence
of footpath on the Leamington-bound side of the road, at the point of discontinuation
of the footpath on the Kenilworth-bound side of the road.

The Council had scheduled a review of the policy for the early Summer but has brought
forward this particular element in light of the Regulation 28 Report. Attached to this letter is
a note of the investigations carried out by our highway engineers and their conclusions.
From this it will be seen that it has been decided to make a number of changes at the point
where the Kenilworth-bound footway terminates in order to reduce the risk of any future
deaths. These changes are as follows:

* a dropped crossing point supported by tactile paving on both sides of the road
e abarrier rail to deter pedestrians

e supporting signing to direct pedestrians across the road at this point

e keeping the street light nearest to the crossing point on throughout the night.

20Siz,

C) @ a jl bode

INVESTOR IN PEOPLE ‘Hie Lav socETY aps [WA ht Wt tks

& Printed on 100% recycled paper

tam aware that this response will be shown to Mr Wellbelove's family and | do hope that
they will accept our heartfelt condolences for their loss.

The County Council has no representations to make about the release or publication of this
response.

Yours sincerely

Head of Law & Governance

2YY/s
bad Lexcel 2VVe
INVESTOR IN PEOPLE ‘THE LAW SOCIETY aye

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