Norfolk HGV driver crushed in tragic Hainford farm accident

Mark Gellatly died in a tragic accident at School Farm in Hainford while he was working for Pilgrim's Pride Ltd - a firm involved the production of pork products.

The 51-year-old grandfather had been tasked with collecting 120 pigs from the farm to take to an abattoir, but on arriving at the farm found difficulties with the loading ramp of a trailer he was using, an inquest has heard.

After alerting his managers the tailgate was not working, he was told to take it to Truck and Plant in Beccles, where it was found that a wire was disconnected.

Believing the issue to have been resolved, Mr Gellatly returned to Hainford to begin loading the pigs.

But during the task, it gave way, crushing Mr Gellatly's between the tailgate and a loading ramp at the farm.

Terry Lloyd, who owns the farm in Newton Road, described hearing "a big bang like a bomb going off" as the tailgate came crashing down on the driver.

He said: "It looked like his head had taken the full impact and knew straight away there was no way he would have survived that.

"I was so shocked by how quickly it had fallen."

The farmer immediately called the emergency services and the East Anglian Air Ambulance attended, but Mr Gellatly died at the scene.

Newton Road in Hainford, Picture: Geograph (Image: Geograph)

Mr Lloyd added that he was expecting Mr Gellatly to come back with a different trailer and was shocked to learn it was the same one when he returned.

The inquest heard that Mr Gellatly had arrived at the farm at around 7am that morning, April 15, 2021, to collect the pigs - only for the tailgate to stop moving when he was lowering it into place.

He phoned Jonathan Wells, transport manager at PPL, who in turn contacted the Beccles-based garage.

After being told to drive the trailer to the workshop, Mr Gellatly enlisted the help of Mr Lloyd and the farmer's grandson, Riordan Woodcock, to raise the gate using a telehandler.

The court heard Tom Galer, Truck and Plant's mechanic, then made repairs to loose wiring in the back of the trailer.

He told the court that Mr Wells had not mentioned that the tailgate was not moving when reporting the trailer's problem.

He said: "Mr Gellatly was happy with the repairs I had done and went on his way."

Earlier, Mr Gellatly's daughter, Honor Warner,  had led family tributes to her father in a statement read out to the court.

She said: "My dad was a very kind and wonderful human being and everybody who knew him was better off from having met him.

"He would have given you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it more.

"He worked hard all of his life - he was a perfectionist in every way and you would never hear him say 'that'll do'.

"He loved his wife Karen, he loved his babies and he loved our babies too.

"He loved to talk and shared all details of his life with anybody that would listen. He loved fishing, shooting and cooking and spoiling Karen.

"He never asked for or expected anything from anybody else and deserved so much more life than he the amount he had."

The inquest heard Mr Gellatly was born in Scotland and had moved to Hingham in 2015, where he lived in Watton Road.

His medical cause of death was given as a skull fracture and brain contusion as a result of the injuries he suffered in the incident.

The inquest, which is scheduled to last four days, continues.