Father Cooked Alive Inside a 280C Oven After Being Locked Inside And Having it Switched on By His Future Son-In-Law

Father Cooked Alive Inside a 280C Oven After Being Locked Inside And Having it Switched on By His Future Son-In-Law

After Alan Catterall, 54, walked into an oven to fix a fault, his future son-in-law, Mark Francis, shut it and turned it on, not realizing that Alan was still inside.  Catterall attempted to use a crowbar to escape, but perished due to severe burns and shock. The oven in question heats up to 280 degrees Celsius, and is used to bake plastic.

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From The Daily Mail:

A grandfather burned to death inside an industrial oven that baked plastic at up to 280 degrees after he became trapped and the machine was turned on by his future son-in-law, a court heard.

Alan Catterall, 54, from Runcorn, Cheshire, had gone into the oven to fix a fault when operator Mark Francis, not realising he was still working inside, switched the machine on and locked him in.

Mr Francis was engaged to Mr Catterall’s eldest daughter, the jury was told.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that because there was no alarm Mr Catterall tried to escape using a crowbar but because of the noisy working environment no one heard his cries for help.

Colleagues at Pyranha Mouldings Ltd only discovered ‘the problem was when smoke started seeping out of the oven,’ the jury heard.

The father-of-three died after suffering severe burns and shock following the incident on 23 December 2010. The company’s oven was used to make kayaks.

Pyranha is now on trial charged with corporate manslaughter with the directors and a self-employed engineer facing charges related to health and safety breaches.

This is truly a horrific story, and our prayers are with the families of everyone involved. If this truly was an accident, Mr. Francis will have to live with his mistake for the rest of his life.

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