THE inquest into the death of a young Ballyclare man working at a landfill site heard yesterday how his workmates broke into his locker in their efforts to find him.
Philip Layland, 23, was found dead at the Mallusk site – run by Biffa Waste – on August 22, 2008.
Last week, Peter Brown, a divisional regional compliance manager with Biffa, told the inquest that despite having completed a 200-page report into Mr Layland’s death, there was still no real idea of what had happened.
Mr Layland was site supervisor and had been operating a D6 bulldozer while covering for a colleague during a lunch break.
Employee Jonathan Sharples told the inquest yesterday that he had started work at 6.30am. He said that he, along with D6 bulldozer driver Clarke Sloan, took a 30-minute break at 9.30am and again at 1.30pm.
At 2pm, Mr Sharples said he returned from lunch along with Mr Sloan.
He said Mr Layland had been powerwashing the D6, which he said was undertaken sometimes to cool the machine down if it had overheated.
At 3pm, Mr Sharples said he heard someone ask where Mr Layland was.
At 5.30pm most of the workers were in the office where the lockers are located. Mr Sharples said the conversation was about Mr Layland’s whereabouts.
He said then foreman Tony Quinn broke into Mr Layland’s locker to try and work out if he had gone home early.
“We were all asked had we heard from him (Mr Layland), or if we knew where he had went,” Mr Sharples told the tribunal yesterday, adding that he started to get concerned when they had opened Mr Leyland’s locker and found his shoes were still there.
“I started to think maybe something at home happened. I didn’t know what to make of it.”
Mr Sharples went home but received a phone call to say Mr Layland wasn’t at home. He returned to the landfill site where he stayed until after midnight.
Another former colleague, Sean O’Reilly, also gave evidence yesterday to the inquest in Belfast.
At the end of yesterday’s proceedings, coroner Suzanne Anderson said two more witnesses had been summoned and that the hearings would resume tomorrow.
Lawyer Tara McKenna, acting for Mr Layland’s family, said they have three main concerns: the control of traffic coming onto the site; there should be no pedestrians in the risk zone at the site; and the checking-in of people so that they were accounted for at all times.
In a statement, Biffa Waste said it offers its support and extends its deepest sympathy to Mr Layland’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.
A spokesman said the company would not make any further comment until the inquest is complete.
The hearing will continue tomorrow morning.