Former Airedale Academy pupil, Rhys Barker, 18, died at the building site in Crewe, Cheshire, on June 21, 2017, along with David Newall, 36, and David Webb, 43.

A coroner concluded their deaths were an accident and the collapse was caused by a “series of errors” made by employees at Falcon Tower Crane Services Ltd.

The three men were working as part of a team to erect the Potain MC85B tower crane at a building site when it tilted and fell.

It collapsed onto two homes adjacent to the site but none of the occupants were injured.

At the time of the collapse Rhys was located on the front jib of the structure.

He suffered fatal crush injuries to his chest, the inquest heard.

Mr Newell, from Bradford, sustained head and chest injuries and also died at the scene.

Mr Webb, from Cambridgeshire, sustained multiple injuries and died in hospital from sepsis and multi-organ failure on July 25, 2017.

In her conclusion at Cheshire Coroner’s Court on October 1, 2025, senior coroner Jacqueline Devonish said there were mistakes made in preparing documents outlining how the crane should be set up.

She told the inquest: “The cause of the crane collapse was due to a series of errors by Falcon Crane Services Limited staff members with responsibilities for drafting the method statement and associated documents which contained an incorrect sequence of works by omitting the crucial requirement for partial ballasts.”

She said the error was not identified and the supervisor “compounded this when he did not correctly follow the build plan and sequence for the work”.

This culminated in the overbalancing of the crane, she said, without the “crucial partial ballasts”.

The ballasts increase stability.

She added: “The change in process caused the jib to slew in the opposite direction to that planned, therefore endangering the local community when the crane fell onto two residential homes outside the site.”

She gave a conclusion of accidental death “contributed to by a chain of errors in producing the method statement and absence of partial ballast”.

Following the inquest’s conclusion, a spokesperson for Falcon Cranes said it had been “deeply affected” by the incident and had done all it can to provide support to the families.

They said: “We hope this process and the conclusion reached by the coroner following long and detailed investigations will assist the families and all others concerned to achieve a degree of closure in relation to the deaths.

“Our thoughts remain with the families and all others who have suffered as a consequence of this tragic accident.”