Prevention of Future Deaths reports · 2014
Regulation 28 report to prevent future deaths, reference 2014-0160, written 9 Apr 2014. A coroner writes one of these when an inquest reveals a risk that could cause further deaths unless something changes.
| Date of report | 9 Apr 2014 |
|---|---|
| Reference | 2014-0160 |
| Deceased | Thomas Allen |
| Coroner | Peter Dean |
| Coroner area | Suffolk |
| Category | Road (Highways Safety) related deaths |
| Source | judiciary.uk record · original PDF |
| Responses published | 1 |
Text extracted from the PDF text layer. Reproduced verbatim, including the scan's own layout.
REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS THIS REPORT IS BEING SENT TO: 1. The Rt Hon Owen Paterson MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 2. Chief Inspector Powell, Suffolk Constabulary 1 CORONER I am Dr Peter Dean, senior coroner for the coroner area of Suffolk 2 CORONER’S LEGAL POWERS I 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 27th of December 2012 I commenced an investigation into the death of Thomas Allen. The investigation concluded at the end of the inquest on the 9th of April 2014. The conclusion of the inquest was Accidental Death, the death of Mr Allen being from Cerebral Contusions following a Road Traffic Collision. 4 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DEATH The circumstances of Thomas Allen’s death on Christmas Day 2012 are particularly sad and resulted from ‘fly grazing’, that is the unauthorised grazing of horses or ponies on land without the agreement of the landowner, and horses subsequently getting loose. In the months leading up to this tragedy, there were at least ten reported incidents of horses that had been fly grazing getting loose in this area, some then being found on or near roads, and there were repeated concerns that a road traffic collision would occur as a consequence of this. The horse owner had repeatedly been asked to remove the horses from the site. On Christmas Eve 2012 at 10-35pm, Mr Allen and his partner were driving along a section of the A14 which was unlit and had very little ambient light when five untethered horses entered the A14 carriageway. Collisions then occurred in which Mr Allen received injuries from which he died the next day, three further cars were hit and three horses were killed. The horses were only visible at the very last minute, and none of the drivers could take any avoiding action. At the request of the CPS, the inquest was deferred until after the criminal trial and, in March 2013, the owner was sentenced having pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance, it being felt that there was not sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for involuntary manslaughter by gross negligence. The subsequent inquest today heard that fly grazing was a national problem and that this was an accident waiting to happen. It was noted that the National Farmer’s Union has called for fly grazing to be made a criminal offence to ensure that action can be taken more quickly and offenders brought to justice, and it has suggested that police forces and local authorities should draw up protocols to deal with these problems jointly. 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. – Fly grazing is a national problem which is currently more difficult to curtail because (1) It is not currently a criminal offence in England (although I understand that steps are being taken to remedy this in Wales) (2) A police/local authority protocol is being worked on but not currently in force in 1 Suffolk. 6 ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and your organisations have the power to take such action in respect of the two separate issues mentioned above. I would respectfully ask the Minister to take steps to make fly grazing a criminal offence and the police and local authority to progress their work ensuring that a protocol for joint working to deal with the problem is in place at the earliest opportunity in order to reduce the chance of similar fatalities occurring. 7 YOUR RESPONSE You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report, namely by 4th of June 2014. I, 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. 8 COPIES and PUBLICATION I have sent a copy of my report to the Chief Coroner and to the family. I am 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. 9 9-4-14 Dr Peter Dean 2
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.
Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs Nobel House 17 Smith Square London SW1P 3JR Dr Peter Dean MBBS, BDS(Hons), DRCOG, LLM Coroner’s Office 3rd Floor Landmark House Egerton Road Ipswich Suffolk IP1 5PF From Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Natural Environment and Science June 2014 Thank you for your letter of 14 April to the Secretary of State about the death of Thomas Allen as a result of fly-grazed horses straying onto the highway. I am replying as the Minister responsible for the welfare of equines. I am grateful to you for drawing attention to this very sad case and I offer my condolences to Ms Chenery. You suggest that the provision of a specific offence of fly-grazing would help prevent such incidents in the future. However, we already have laws in place to tackle the straying of animals onto a highway. In particular, the Highways Act 1980; section 155 of which provides offences relating to straying livestock on a highway and which may be relevant in this case. Under the 1980 Act, the horses can be removed if they are straying onto, or are by the side of, the highway and the associated costs recovered from the owner of the horses. There is other legislation in relation to animals that have been placed on other people's land without the land owner’s permission. In addition to the existing legislation in the Animals Act 1971 and the established use of Anti-social Behaviour Orders, there is new legislation in the form of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (the 2014 Act). The 2014 Act contains new streamlined measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, of which the fly- grazing of horses and ponies is a prime example. I am aware that it is necessary for the authorities to identify the owners of fly-grazing horses in order to take action and I agree that progress can be made with improved joint working amongst the authorities, building up local intelligence and identifying the perpetrators. However, in the case you cite, there appeared to be no issue about identifying the owners of the horses, so the authorities could have taken action against the owner under the Animals INVESTORS I N PEOPLE V / Act 1971 or by issuing an ASBO. In the future they will be able to use the new powers in the 2014 Act when those measures come into force later this year. In summary, I have discussed the problem with a number of key stakeholders including industry animal welfare charities, organisations. At our request, stakeholders are looking at trying to encourage more joined up working, using the advice and guidance referred to above, in areas where this is a serious problem. We will then wish to see whether this has an effect. local authority representatives and other horse I am keeping a close eye on the situation in Wales, now that the Welsh Government has introduced a law allowing local authorities to seize illegally grazed horses from private land. Having spoken to both Welsh and English local authorities, early indications suggest that the new law has not made much difference but it may be too soon to judge. I believe that the real long term solution to this issue is to target the perpetrators directly. I don’t believe the solution is necessarily to make it easier for local authorities to remove fly-grazing horses which are not suffering and have them euthanased. My concern is that the costs of such actions are borne by the local authority and it provides little incentive for the perpetrators to change their behaviour. The cycle of abandoned horses is likely to continue, with local authorities having to bear the costs. O i “
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