A coroner has determined that a runner who was electrocuted by a low-hanging electricity cable died following a “rare and complex” chain of events.
John Oates, aged 29 and known as Harry, was killed instantly after touching a live electricity line on a public footpath in Lupton, near Kirkby Lonsdale in Cumbria. The incident occurred on 27 October 2023.
An inquest held in Cockermouth heard that there were no automatic systems in place at the time to detect the North West Electricity hanging line. The electrocution death involving a low-hanging electricity cable in Cumbria was therefore not identified before the incident occurred.
North West Electricity stated that Mr Oates’ family had its “heartfelt sympathies” and said it would continue to work with other operators on “learnings from this immensely sad accident”.
Senior coroner Kirsty Gomersal has issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to the Energy Networks Association. The contents of the report have not yet been published.
The Energy Networks Association, which represents the energy industry, confirmed it is considering the report.
The inquest, which lasted four days, was told that Mr Oates had been training for a half-marathon on the day of his death.
Shortly after 14:00 BST, he was running along a field footpath at Badger Gate when he came into contact with an 11 kv electricity conductor and was killed instantly. This electrocution death involving a low-hanging electricity cable in Cumbria occurred in a publicly accessible area.
Evidence presented to the inquest stated that the conductor had been “released from its usual position on 25 October and became suspended on equipment lower down the pole”.
The conductor remained live and the situation had not been reported.
Ms Gomersal concluded that Mr Oates died due to a “rare and complex sequence of events”.
A spokesperson for the Energy Networks Association repeated that its “heartfelt sympathies remain with Harry Oates’ family”.
They said both the coroner and the Health and Safety Executive found that “it was a rare and complex sequence of events that were unforeseeable”.
“Safety is our number one value, and we will continue to work with other distribution network operators and ENA, on learnings from this immensely sad accident,” the spokesperson said.
