Unlawful killing verdict after six and a half week inquest. Lynne Wallis reports.
It has been three years since 38-year-old firefighter Stephen Hunt died while battling a fire started deliberately by two teenage girls in Manchester city centre.
In May Stephen’s family finally, at the end of a gruelling six and a half week long inquest, got the outcome they wanted. The jury delivered a verdict of unlawful killing alongside the recognition that there had been a catalogue of failures by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service which had contributed to Stephen’s death.
The fire at Paul’s Hair World had been raging for five hours when Stephen and his partner Jeremy Jones took over from another crew on the evening of 13 July.
There was no life to be saved, so it was firefighting, not saving life, that led to the near death of Jeremy and the absolutely needless death of the popular, brave father of two who was former soldier Stephen Hunt.
POOR COMMUNICATION
The jury found that the two firefighters had been given two briefs at handover. One told them not to venture any further than the top of the stairs inside the building, and one saying to go further if possible.
There had been very poor communication and procedural failures at this critical point. The brigade’s barrister tried to suggest that Stephen may have been to blame for his death because he did not adhere to the brief. This was vigorously challenged by the family’s barrister before being disproved.
Stephen’s mother Susan Veevers told Firefighter: “Stephen was trained to obey orders. The barrister tried to plant a seed of doubt, but I knew Stephen wouldn’t have ignored a brief. I knew my son.
“I threatened to go on the telly and expose them if their barrister carried on saying that it was Stephen’s fault – that changed everything.”
A chilling film of the burning building taken from CCTV was shown to the jury, with the coroner counting down to the 20 minutes, the maximum time Stephen and Jeremy should have been inside the building.
There is no-one around at all, and the safety officer who came off duty with the previous crew had not been replaced.
Susan said: “The safety officer who went off duty said he had briefed three people about what needed to happen next, but no-one came. We know that they went to the top of the stairs and that Stephen got too hot.
“There was thick black smoke. They stayed longer than 20 minutes, and they missed the door and ran out of air.
“Jeremy was eventually pulled out by firefighters, but by the time they came back for Stephen a few minutes later, he had died.”
Kevin Brown is the FBU’s executive member for the region. He said: “The jury recognised that the safety regime in operation for most of the day, which limited BA wearers to 20 minutes and included an additional safety officer stationed at the entry to the building, should have been carried on through the handover but wasn’t implemented.
THERE WAS POOR DECISION MAKING AND A BREAKDOWN OF RADIO COMMUNICATION
“There was poor decision making and a breakdown of radio communication as well. If these failures hadn’t occurred, Stephen would probably still be alive.
“We now need GMFRS to implement all of the recommendations we have jointly made with them to ensure that there are no more needless deaths like this in the future. We owe that to Stephen’s memory.”
Susan and Stephen’s stepdad Wilf both feel that, despite the operational failures, that led to Stephen’s death, that they have been extremely well treated by the brigade.
“We can’t let the one or two bad apples that let Stephen down taint the whole reputation of the brigade,” said Susan. “They gave our son a lovely funeral – he deserved that – and he has a red memorial bench made out of firefighting equipment outside the station, an engraved piece of stone taken from the building that was on fire, and a cabinet full of memorabilia.
“Our liaison officer Tony Hunter has become a family friend.”
The family were touched that CFO Peter O’Reilly wept when he gave evidence at the inquest, apologising over and over in the open court for what had happened to Stephen.
CFO DISTRAUGHT
FBU regional secretary Les Skarratts felt so sorry for the distraught CFO he went over and hugged him, moving several members of the jury to tears.
Like Linda Williamson, mother of Ewan Williamson who died fighting the Balmoral Bar fire in Edinburgh in 2009, Susan Veevers urges mothers and partners of firefighters to see that they join their union immediately after they accept the job.
She said: “We don’t know where we would have been without the FBU.
“They have supported us all the way, and paid all of our legal costs. Imagine us paying for a barrister for six and a half weeks! We’d have had to have sold the house, and probably borrowed more on top.
“Kevin and Les have been brilliant, always there for us if we needed someone to talk to.
“We just hope in future that firefighters and those in charge focus on the briefs during handovers.
“If they had been issued and adhered to properly, my son would probably still be alive.”
