Andy Lloyd was electrocuted after the grab arm on his truck hit an overhead power line while he was delivering hardcore to a farm in Conwy. He died at Tan y Dderwen Farm in Betws-yn-Rhos on 1 May after climbing down from the cab and touching the metal step.
The 56-year-old was with his 14-year-old son, who had joined him to gain work experience. Hayley Lloyd told the inquest that his “last moments were spent in his truck with his son beside him” and that he “cared quietly but fiercely for those around him.”
Ruthin Coroner's Court
The hearing at Ruthin Coroner's Court was told that Lloyd had moved the lorry closer to where contractors were erecting a shed before the grab arm struck 11,000-volt overhead cables. The teenager tried to warn him, but he had already got out of the cab.
Contractors saw flames coming from the rear tyres of the lorry and Lloyd's boots before he collapsed. One contractor helped the teenager out safely, another performed CPR, and a third called an ambulance.
Devon Locke at the field
After the supply had been tripped, Devon Locke was dispatched to the area. He saw that the lorry was still in contact with the cables running above the field, leaving the vehicle in a dangerous position even after the line had been made safe in part.
John Gittins, the senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, concluded that Lloyd died as a result of an accident. Less than a month before his wedding, he had been working a routine load delivery that turned fatal in seconds.
The case leaves one practical question for farms and drivers working near overhead power line routes: how close a vehicle can be moved before a raised arm or attached equipment reaches live cables. The answer is to keep clear of the line entirely, because once contact is made the risk does not end when the supply is tripped.
