Tommy Hollis death: Workers at lamppost tragedy site ‘were under pressure to get job done quickly’

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Tommy Hollis death: Workers at lamppost tragedy site ‘were under pressure to get job done quickly’

May 15th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Tommy Hollis died a day before his first birthday
Council told consultant to ‘exert pressure on Virgin Media’ to get work finished in Chiswick
Lamppost toppled over and killed baby who was being taken to a coffee shop by his nanny
Engineer and father Kevin Elmore told inquest he wished he could ‘take the child’s place’ after learning of his role in the tragedy

By
Rob Cooper

PUBLISHED:

07:33 EST, 15 May 2012

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UPDATED:

07:33 EST, 15 May 2012

Workers on the construction site where a baby boy was killed by an falling lampost were ‘under pressure’ to get the job done quickly, an inquest heard today.

A steel plate supporting the lamp post was inadvertently severed during the excavation works being carried out in Chiswick, west London.

Five days later, the lamp post toppled over and struck Tommy Hollis as he slept in his pushchair, causing devastating head injuries. He died in hospital 48 hours later, on the eve of his first birthday.

Tragedy: Tommy Hollis died after being hit by a falling lamppost as he slept in his pram in Chiswick, west London, an inquest heard

Engineer Kelvin Elmore – a father himself
– told the hearing yesterday he wished he could ‘take the child’s place’ after learning of
his role in the death.

Amin Sinani, a senior consultant with Aecom which designing the road re-widening scheme near said he had an email from the council stressing the importance of the work being done promptly.

West London Coroner’s Court was told that the council’s head of transport in the London Borough of Hounslow expressed ‘the growing concern, with this being a civic site and the election approaching’.

The email continued that the council was ‘very relieved’ that Virgin Media was on site, as its underground cables needed to be moved as part of the scheme.

Probe: Workmen inspect the lamppost on the day it fell. Civil Engineer Kelvin Elmore, who cut the post, said he wished he had died instead of Tommy

Asked by Owain Thomas, counsel for Tommy’s parents Chris and Kate Hollis, if he was ‘under pressure to complete this project quickly’,

Mr Sinani replied: ‘The site had been excavated for a long time. In that sense, yes, there was some sort of pressure to deliver the work on time.’

Asked if the local authority was expecting him to ‘exert pressure on Virgin Media to get on with it’, Mr Sinani replied: ‘Yes’.

At the time engineer Kelvin Elmore cut through the steel plate holding the lamp post up, wrongly believing it to be part of an old tram line, a full excavation of the site was being carried out in a bid to avoid any further delays, the inquest heard.

The trench ran on either side of the lamp post.

Tommy Hollis with his mother Kate

Tommy Hollis with his father Chris

Happy family: Tommy laughs for a photo shoot with his mother, Kate, and
father, Chris. He died after a lamppost fell on his head

A police officer removes the pram from the scene: Anna Martin said she was wheeling the sleeping toddler past roadworks when she heard a 'hollow' noise followed by a 'terrible scream'

A police officer removes the pram from the scene: Anna Martin said she was wheeling the sleeping toddler past roadworks when she heard a ‘hollow’ noise followed by a ‘terrible scream’

Mr Elmore, who was working for
construction firm McNicholas, contracted by Virgin Media to move their
cables, was trying to get the steel plate out of the way, believing it
to be an obstruction to the works. He was not able to remove it,
however.

He is still employed by the firm, although an internal investigation found him guilty of gross misconduct.

When
asked if there was any consideration given to nearby structures,
including the lamp post, when the decision was made to dig the trench,
Mr Sinani replied: ‘No’.

The
lamp post had been due to be removed from outside Chiswick Town Hall as
part of the works and moved to the other side of the road, the inquest
jury heard.

Helping others: Mr and Mrs Hollis had another son, Jack, in September. They have set up a charity in Tommy's name to 'give loving care to children, in particular those without parents'

Helping others: Mr and Mrs Hollis had another son, Jack, in September. They have set up a charity in Tommy’s name to ‘give loving care to children, in particular those without parents’

Hit: Nanny Mary Gregory lies behind Tommy's buggy in Chiswick, West London

Tragedy: Nanny Mary Gregory lies behind Tommy’s buggy in Chiswick, West London

Tommy was
air-lifted to hospital after the accident on the morning of February 23,
2010, which happened as his nanny was taking him to a coffee shop from
his parents’ Chiswick home.

Grandmother Mary Gregory was also hit in the lower back.

Tommy’s nanny Anna Martin told the inquest how she tried to resuscitate him after the lamppost fell.

But his brain injuries were so serious he could not survive them.

Mr and Mrs Hollis set up the Tommy Hollis Children’s Fund after their baby’s death.

A
message on the charity’s website reads: ‘Tommy was a happy, smiley boy
who spread joy to everyone he met and we would like to do something in
his honour to spread the joy he gave us.’

The couple, who live in Chiswick, had a second son, Jack, last September.

Respect: A couple look at flowers laid at the scene. Miss martin tried to revive the little boy with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but he never regained consciousness

Respect: A couple look at flowers laid at the scene. Nanny Miss Martin tried to revive the little boy with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but he never regained consciousness

The
inquest has heard that the way the lamp post was secured was unusual,
with Mr Elmore adding that he had never seen such an arrangement in his
17-year career. Mr Sinani also said he had not come across the set-up
before.

A lamp post usually runs straight into the ground, or is secured on a concrete plinth, the inquest heard.

The
bottom of the lamp post concerned had instead been cut off, and a steel
plate and concrete structure connected to it in a ‘dog-leg’
arrangement.

Mr Sinani said
the decision to excavate the trench surrounding the lamp post did not
lie with him as his role was to act as a liaison between his client, the
council, and McNicholas, on behalf of Virgin Media, and to report on
the work being done.

He had, however, expressed a preference for the full excavation so as to avoid a delay, he said.

Mr
Sinani, who has worked in project management for Aecom for five years,
added that he had not seen a risk assessment of the site before the
digging of the trench that led to the lamp post foundation being
damaged.

The inquest continues.