Misadventure verdict on canal deaths

From the The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, first published Friday 27th Jan 2006.

THE jury at the inquest on father-and-son hedge-cutting team Mark and Luke Wells has brought in a verdict of misadventure at the end of a three-day hearing in Salisbury.

Mark "Polo" Wells, 41, of Seend Cleeve, near Devizes, and his 19-year-old son Luke from Melksham were thought to have been together in the cab of the British Waterways tractor working on the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal close to Bridge 111 at New Mill, Pewsey, on Wednesday December 1, 2004 when the bank gave way beneath them and the tractor fell into just over a metre of water.

Earlier in the inquest a jury was told that contractor Mark Wells had two previous accidents on towpaths before he and his son Luke drowned when their tractor fell into the Kennet and Avon Canal.

Mr Wells, 41, better known as Polo, and Luke, 19, nicknamed Little Po, were pronounced dead at the scene of the tragic incident at Bridge 111 on the canal at New Mill, Pewsey, on December 1, 2004.

The inquest heard that Mark Wells had been contracted to carry out hedge-cutting work by British Waterways for two years. He had taken Luke, his son by childhood sweetheart Kim Cary, into his fencing and landscaping business as a partner.

The blue Ford tractor they were using to carry out the work was found in the canal, close to the bridge. There was an area of bank which had collapsed and it is thought this had given way under the weight of the tractor.

Wiltshire assistant deputy coroner Nigel Brookes, sitting with a jury at Salisbury Coroner's Court this week, heard that runner Helen Franks may have been the last person to see the two men alive. She said her lunchtime route took her on the towpath between bridges 110 and 111.

She said she had seen the blue Ford tractor fitted with a yellow hedge-trimming attachment at about 12.45pm on the day. She had to tiptoe gingerly along the edge of the canal, gripping the tractor's mudguard, to be able to get past as there was only a few inches between the edge of the tractor and the canal bank.

She saw an older man, presumably Mark Wells, in the cab and Luke Wells standing in front of the machine, which was stationary.

Mr Brookes read out a statement from soldier Roland Woolven who was out canoeing.

Mr Woolven said he had come across a tractor in the canal, one wheel and a section of the hedge-cutting machine protruding from the canal. He saw no-one else around so continued paddling. He returned along the canal at about 2.50pm and saw the tractor still semi-submerged and called British Waterways.

It did not occur to him until he was driving through Pewsey that there might be someone in the cab. He saw Sergeant Andy Peach and pulled over to tell him about the tractor.

Sgt Peach said he had arrived at the scene shortly before 4pm. He saw fire officers lift the tractor far enough out of the water for the bodies of the two men to be recovered.

A report from Dr Clare Fuller, consultant pathologist at Salisbury District Hospital, who carried out the post mortem examination, gave the cause of death as freshwater drowning. There was no evidence of injury.

Mark and Luke Wells had begun doing the hedge-cutting work originally as sub-contractors to Mark Peterson. He said Mr Wells senior had never expressed any unhappiness about working on the canal towpath.

British Waterways lorry driver Kevin Osborne said there had been an incident in November 2003 when Mark Wells had become stuck in the tractor on the edge of the canal near Semington. One of the front wheels had sunk into the edge of the bank and the rear wheel lifted into the air.

In February 2004 Mr Wells was in trouble again, this time in a smaller Kabota tractor with a hedge-trimming attachment, at Bridge 97 to the east of Pewsey.

Again a wheel had slipped off the bank into the water.

The inquest continues today.

The victims.

THE death of happy-go-lucky Mark Polo' Wells and his son Luke, or Little Po, has left a huge void in the communities of Seend Cleeve, Bromham, Melksham and beyond.

More than 700 mourners attended their funeral.

Mark Wells was born and raised in Bromham and went to John Bentley School in Calne. He took up work at Stiles' abattoir in Bromham. A relationship with childhood friend Kim Cary resulted in the birth of Luke, who became increasingly close to his father, sharing many of his enthusiasms, such as shooting, fishing and riding trial bikes.

Luke met his girlfriend Nicola Siekeira, 18, two years before his death and the couple soon developed a close relationship.

At the time of Luke's death, Miss Siekiera was pregnant with their child, called Leo-Luke Mark Wells.

Mark Wells had been living with his partner of eight and a half years, Paulette King, at Seend Cleeve when he died.

Archive Home