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British man was horrifically burned alive in an industrial oven after his future son-in-law mistakenly turned it on while he was still working inside,
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Alan Catterall screamed for help as the temperature in the locked kiln soared to a blistering 536 degrees.
The 54-year-old desperately tried to prize the power-locked doors open with a crow bar
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But his cries to be freed tragically went unheard. He suffered severe burns and died from shock.
Workers at Pyranha Mouldings Ltd's warehouse
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only realized he'd been trapped after they saw smoke seeping out from the oven shortly afterwards.
The incident occurred on Dec. 23, 2010. The company is now on trial
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charged with corporate manslaughterThe directors and a self-employed engineer also all face health and safety breach charges.
Prosecutor Andrew Thomas, QC, told
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that Mark Francis, who was engaged to Catterall's eldest daughter Sarah, had fatefully flicked the switch on the oven.
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a fault had developed with the machine on the morning of the accident, but that it was fixed and Francis then turned it back on.
But he had not realized that his future father-in-law was still working inside.
"The design of the oven was such that the moment it was switched on its power-operated doors shut and automatically locked with metal bolts on the outside,"
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"Mr Catterall was trapped within the oven. There was no means of escape and no alarm. The oven is lined with insulation material, and on the noisy factory floor, there was no chance of anyone hearing his cries for help,"
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Managing director Graham Mackereth, 64, from Runcorn, his brother and technical director Peter Mackereth, 59, from Llangollen, Wales, and self-employed electrical engineer Paul Keddie, from Wales, who designed the ovens, all deny health and safety breaches.
