Coroner warns about slurry at inquest of boy (8) who died after inhaling fumes

A coroner delivered a stark warning of the dangers of mixing slurry after he presided over the inquest for an eight-year-old schoolboy who died from inhaling toxic fumes.

Robert Christie, from Dunloy in Co Antrim, was overcome by slurry gases as he and his father, Robert snr, worked on the farm of a family friend last year.

Mr Christie was left in a critical condition but went on to recover from the ordeal, which was triggered when he started the process of pumping slurry from an underground pit into a tractor-driven tank for spreading.

Both he and his son were found unconscious in the shed housing the slurry pit by the owner of the Dunloy farm, Robert Brownlow, who had left the pair working in the shed about 20 minutes earlier to have his lunch.

Coroner Suzanne Anderson said she hoped the "catastrophic tragedy" would highlight the dangers of mixing slurry.

“Robert’s tragic death brings to the fore again the risks associated with slurry tanks and I hope by highlighting a tragedy such as this no other family will have to endure what his family has had to with the death of poor Robert,” she said.

The fatal incident last June was the latest in a series to rock the agricultural community in Northern Ireland.

The most high-profile case unfolded in September 2012 when up and coming Ulster rugby star Nevin Spence, his father Noel and brother Graham died after entering a slurry tank at their family farm outside Hillsborough, Co Down.

Mr Christie this morning told the coroner’s court in Ballymena that his son, known to the family as Bob, just loved to be out on the farm.

“Bob loved to farm and he loved to be out farming with me,” he said of the Knockahollet primary school pupil.

Mr Christie told the court he had reversed the tank and tractor into the shed and had got out of the cab to go round to the back to adjust the machinery.

“That is the last memory I have of that day,” he said.

Mr Brownlow, passing postman Joseph Smyth and neighbour Samuel Lyons recalled their efforts to save the father and son, who were four lying four feet apart inside the shed.

Frantic attempts to resuscitate Robert Jnr were to no avail, with no signs of life detected during prolonged CPR by the men and then by arriving paramedics and doctors.

He was airlifted to hospital in Belfast but was later declared dead.

Insp David Lowe of the Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland (HSENI) told the court a number of recommended precautions for slurry mixing had been taken, including a degree of ventilation and the removal of animals from the shed.

But he noted the day the tragedy unfolded was very still, meaning there was little movement of air to disperse the toxic fumes.

He warned that the highest concentration of fumes were present in the initial stages of mixing when the slurry is first disturbed.

Mr Lowe said the HSENI advised farmers to leave the shed for the first 30 minutes of that process.

“Unfortunately in this case it seems this particular precaution had not been taken,” he said.

Noting evidence from Mr Brownlow that a similar approach to mixing had been taken for many years without incident, Mr Lowe stressed the “unpredictability” of slurry.

“Unfortunately it only takes one incident to be caught by slurry gas,” said the inspector.

He again pointed to the still conditions as the potentially key factor in the fatal incident.

“The weather conditions were not good for moving slurry gas out of the shed,” he said.

Mr Lowe said HSENI had been involved in efforts to raise awareness among the farming community of the dangers of mixing slurry.

Ms Anderson said: “I am sure it is a message you would want to reinforce today. There is a lesson sadly to be learned here.” – (PA)