An inquest into the death of a security man who was working at Oldbridge House was adjourned at Drogheda Coroner's Court yesterday as the Health and Safety Authority is considering a prosecution. Oldbridge House, near the Battle of the Boyne site, was being renovated by the Office of Public Works when the death occurred.
The inquest heard that Mr Michael Atewojay (42), of North Strand, Drogheda, had been working with JB Security for two years and was working for the company at the Oldbridge Estate on October 11th 2002. The alarm had been raised when he failed to return after his overnight shift and return the keys to the company that morning. He was found sitting in a digger inside a 40-foot container and a generator was turned on. A post-mortem examination found that he had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
The coroner, Mr Ronan Maguire, told the dead man's son that his father had died in a work accident and it would have been very much a case of going to sleep and would not have been painful. He said that the Health and Safety Authority had, through the gardaí, requested an adjournment, as a prosecution was pending.