The three-day inquest began yesterday (10 September) at Oxford Coroner’s Court.

Riggall died on the evening of 23 July 2018. He had gone into the warehouse at the site – then called Wyndeham Bicester – to fetch some paper reels, using a twin-clamp roll truck.

When a colleague went to check on him shortly afterwards he was found under the truck, which was on its side. It appeared that a smaller stack of reels had come down, causing the truck to topple over.

Riggall, who was 42, was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.

According to a BBC report from the inquest, he died of trauma consistent with crush injuries.

Two colleagues: press assistant Gary Nelson, who found his stricken colleague, and paper logistics manager Kevin Bagley have given evidence to the inquest so far.  

The clamp truck could lift a maximum of three tonnes and the two paper reels would have weighed slightly less than that, Bagley said, according to the report.

He said it could have been the case that Riggall had accidentally dragged out a third reel, causing the stack to fall on top of him.

Speaking to PrintWeek, Walstead Group chief operating officer Roy Kingston said the group was awaiting the findings of the inquest, and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.

Walstead Bicester runs six web presses and has a comprehensive bindery. The site employs around 220 staff and specialises in time-sensitive publications for a host of major publishing clients. It can produce up to 2m magazines a day.

Walstead Group aligned all of its print operations under the Walstead brand at the beginning of this year.