Luton man died in hole after FA Cup final pub visit Published duration 10 April 2018

image copyright Tania Banks image caption Luton Town fan Matt Wilmot was found dead in an excavation hole in a road near his home

A man who was on his way home from watching the FA Cup final fell down a hole and died after safety barriers were removed, an inquest heard.

Matthew Wilmot, 40, fell down the 5ft (1.5m) hole in Luton in the early hours of 28 May last year.

The excavation hole had been dug by contractors on behalf of Affinity Water but safety barriers had been removed, Ampthill Coroner's Court heard.

Mr Wilmot's partner said his family had been left "heartbroken" by his death.

image copyright Tania Banks image caption The body of Matthew Wilmot was found at the bottom of the hole in Devon Road, Luton

A jury of four men and five women heard that the father of two had watched Arsenal beat Chelsea in the final while drinking beer, Jagerbombs and shots in various pubs on Saturday 27 May.

He was described as being drunk and took a taxi with a friend to the end of his road at about 00:35.

A neighbour discovered Mr Wilmot's body "upside down" in the hole on Devon Road at about 07:00.

Julia Horswell, from the East of England Ambulance Service, said she and a colleague arrived at the scene at 07:12 to find some barriers were leaning on a railing.

She described Mr Wilmot as "on his back with his chin on his chest, with his legs up above him". Ms Horswell said she and her colleague could not find a pulse or heart rhythm.

image caption The hole had been dug by contractors working on behalf of Affinity Water

The inquest heard from John Gleasure, a senior supervisor from M&S Water, which was contracted by Amey to dig the hole on behalf of Affinity Water.

Mr Gleasure said work had been temporarily suspended as the hole needed to be deeper and another team was going to continue the work the following Tuesday.

He said barriers had been put up and the footpath was shut with signage.

When asked by acting senior coroner Ian Pears if that was "acceptable" Mr Gleasure replied: "Yes, we can't be on site all the time. In my opinion we did all that we could."

The inquest heard that daily safety checks were not made and a site-specific risk assessment outlining that daily checks were not justified was not done.

Mr Gleasure said he was only on-site for 10-15 minutes when work began on Thursday 25 May and that he did a "mental" risk assessment, not a written one.

The inquest continues.