Lives in Cricket No 45 - Brief Candles 2

87 Tragedy An inquest was opened three days later, and was held over several sessions throughout January. It was established that the chimney, which was of stone construction with a brick superstructure, had been 60 to 70 feet high, was between 60 and 80 years old, and had not been used for at least a dozen years, and probably longer. A leading steeplejack gave advice that such chimneys deteriorate rapidly when not in use, and should be demolished within five years of their use ceasing. It was also established that the condition of the chimney had been the subject of much local concern over many months and indeed years, with masonry regularly falling from it, including in the week before its final collapse. Nearby residents had been making regular complaints on this score for a long while to the owners and their agents, and moreover the borough surveyor had twice served official notices on the agents advising of the dangerous condition of the chimney and telling them to put it into a proper state of repair. Convenient memory loss on the agents’ part meant that, at the inquest, they denied all knowledge of any complaints or concerns about the state of the chimney. They suggested that the collapse was the result of what they alleged was poorly-carried out work to install a drain beneath the chimney a couple of years previously - a claim shown to be false when, during the inquest, specialist investigation showed the drain to be in good shape. In his summing up, the coroner noted that the chimney had come down because of its bad initial construction, but he considered that moral responsibility for its collapse lay with the owners, because of their gross negligence. Nevertheless, he felt that there was no criminal responsibility, for in his view ‘simple neglect of duty [in this case, the failure to keep the chimney in good repair, or else to demolish it] cannot be held to be manslaughter’. To this non-lawyer, writing in the 21st century, this seems an extremely surprising conclusion; if the same incident, with the same background facts, were to occur today, a charge of corporate manslaughter would - or should - surely follow. The 16-man coroner’s jury took just an hour to return a verdict of accidental death on Dick and Rebecca Boys and Margaret McCluskey. In delivering their findings they ascribed the whole of the blame for the accident to the owners, ‘inasmuch as they have had repeated warnings of the dangerous condition of the chimney, two official notices having been served by the borough surveyor besides several warnings from the tenants, and yet they refused to take the chimney down. The jury are of one opinion, viz, that the loss of lives and property is due to the negligence and indifference of the owners.’ Damning words indeed. Meanwhile, the subscription funds for the Boys children and others continued to grow, boosted by the proceeds of special performances of Messiah and Charley’s Aunt , and of a special football match at Turf Moor. It is pleasing to note that among the subscribers were Lancashire CCC, who donated a healthy £10 (this at a time when £1 had the equivalent spending value of £100 today). The final distribution from the fund was made in