§ Mr. JOHN WARDasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that, in the case of the recent inquest on the death of a workman through the fall of an engine into a quarry at Breary Bank, Masham, the jury were anxious to add a rider to their verdict of accidental death that the Home Office should issue regulations to prohibit any railway being laid less than from 10 feet to 12 feet from the face of such quarry, and that the contractor's representative objected to such rider as a reflection upon his clients; and what action he proposes to take to secure the whole verdict of juries in similar industrial inquests?
§ The SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. Churchill)I have made inquiry, and am informed by the Coroner that after the verdict of accidental death had been returned, the foreman got up and said that the jury wished to add to their verdict the suggestion that further provision should be made by the contractor to prevent such accidents in the future. The Coroner told the foreman that he would add the rider if the jury wished, but before doing so allowed the contractor's representative to make an additional statement. The foreman then intimated that the jury were satisfied with their verdict as it stood without the rider. The Coroner says that the jury considered there had been no negligence on the part of the contractor, and were satisfied that the death of the deceased was due to his own negligence in travelling at too high a speed.