Durrington crane collapse: jury to decide blame

By The Newsroom

Published 20th Mar 2009, 10:18 BST

Updated 8th Jun 2018, 00:50 BST

AN UNQUALIFIED "dogsbody"played a key role in the tragic deaths of two construction workers after a crane collapsed at a Durrington school in 2005, a court heard.

Nigel Lithman QC, prosecuting, told a jury at Chichester Crown Court that relief crane driver David Smith, 57, incorrectly loosened bolts on a crane being dismantled on the site at Durrington High School on

February 11, 2005.

The crane subsequently collapsed, killing Mr Smith's colleagues; Gary Miles, 37, and Stephen Boatman, 45, both from Reading.