A WAREHOUSE worker crushed to death by a bucket loader vehicle did not have a radio on him when he was killed, an inquest heard.

Jurors at the third day of the inquest on Austin Thomas, who died from "physical crush injuries" after being hit by the loader carrying waste newspaper at a papermill in Shotton, heard evidence from forensic collision investigator Colin Dobbins.

Mr Dobbins arrived at the scene an hour after Mr Thomas was killed at around midday on February 7, 2017.

He told the inquest he carried out a digital survey of the scene which revealed the warehouse flooring was in good condition with no trip hazards and was also adequality lit.

Mr Thomas’ body had not been moved and Mr Dobbins described seeing the ex-soldier lying on his back with tyre marks on his clothing and “pools of blood” surrounding the vehicle whose tyres were “heavily streaked with blood”.

The 29-year-old was not wearing a protective helmet and was not carrying a radio which workers in the warehouse were supposed to use to communicate and tell each other where they were in the building when the bucket loaders or lorries were in use.

Mr Dobbins confirmed that Mr Thomas, who served with the Welsh Guards in Kosovo and Afghanistan, had been hit from behind by the loader’s bucket, which was carrying waste paper ready for recycling, before the vehicle’s tyres ran over his body.

Using photographs and video footage taken from a camera fixed on top of the bucket loader, which was driven by Mr Thomas’ colleague Darren Wright, Mr Dobbins showed how Mr Thomas, of Gardener's Row, Oakenholt, Flint, had been walking along the edge of a central roadway used by vehicles when he was hit.

To his left were piles of waste paper but there was significant space on his right for two of the loaders to pass by, said Mr Dobbins, who pointed out the waste paper being carried by the loader was “significantly higher than the metal container” carrying it.

Calculating sight lines, Mr Dobbins told the jury at Abergele Town Hall that Mr Wright would have been able to see Mr Thomas, who was wearing a reflective jacket, for about 22 seconds as it drove up behind him at around 10mph before losing sight of him for five seconds immediately before the collision.

“I am of the opinion there was sufficient time to notice the deceased and make alternate driving plans or stop the vehicle,” he said.

Mr Dobbins added Mr Wright’s vision was “significantly restricted” by the loaded front bucket and that a faulty camera would have given the driver a better front view had it been working.

“It would have had the potential to reduce the blind spot,” he said.

The inquest also heard statements from three of Mr Thomas’ colleagues, all of whom worked for logistics firm CM Downton at UPM Shotton at the time of the incident.

In his statement worker Alan Roberts said: “I would always give a lorry driver a wide berth and would always let a driver know visually or verbally, preferably both, that I was coming on to the warehouse floor.

He added: “When I fill the loader it would be level with the top of the bucket so as not to impair my vision.”

Another worker, Richard Deeson, said fully loaded bucket loaders should be driven in reverse and there were signs in the warehouse warning about overloading the buckets.

“I have never had any instruction about how full a bucket loader should be,” he added.

A third man, Phillip Larkin, said: “If I was going to do jobs on foot I would radio to say where I would be.

“It was common sense to stop driving if you saw someone walking around.”

All three men confirmed there were no pedestrian walkways throughout the warehouse.

The inquest continues.