John McLinden QC and Nikolas Clarke represented the local authority in an inquest concerning the death of a cyclist, Ben Wales, who fell off his bicycle and was then run over by a lorry.
The deceased’s family alleged muddy slurry on the road, supposedly from a nearby rubble recycling plant, caused the fall. Consequently various departments of the local authority were implicated by:
- allowing the recycling plant to operate in that area
- not managing/enforcing emissions from the plant
- insufficient street cleaning.
The assistant coroner returned a narrative verdict.