A mechanic father-of-two was crushed to death while repairing his own car when the axle stand propping up the vehicle gave way.
Daniel Burton, 27, was discovered unresponsive and trapped under the Audi A3, at his partner’s home in Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, on January 22, an inquest has heard.
Despite the efforts of emergency services, Mr Burton was pronounced dead at the scene, WalesOnline reported.
The inquest heard how the keen mechanic had that day attended college where he was working towards an MOT qualification, before enjoying time with his partner and children at Penlan Leisure Centre.
When they returned home, Mr Burton was said to be keen to fit a part that had been delivered for his car despite it being dark outside.
Passersby told Guildhall court in Swansea that they had seen the vehicle – which was parked on a sloped street – propped up on the driver’s side, while the rear wheels had been removed. They had seen Mr Burton lying on his back underneath the car.
One commented she had thought the car looked ‘unsafe’ but did not want to intervene.
At around 6.30pm, a local resident stopped to ask the mechanic if he had spotted her recently stolen car in the nearby streets – but she received no response from him.
Daniel Burton, 27, was crushed to death while repairing his own car when the axle stand propping up the vehicle gave way
Passersby told Guildhall court in Swansea they had seen the vehicle – which was parked on a sloped street – propped up on the driver’s side, while the rear wheels had been removed. They had seen Mr Burton lying on his back underneath the car
The inquest heard how the keen mechanic had earlier that day spent time with his partner and children at Penlan Leisure Centre before the tragedy occurred
She ran off to find help and a neighbour arrived with a jack in an attempt to lift the car off Mr Burton. They also informed his partner as to what had happened.
Emergency crews arrived at the scene, but were unable to save the father-of-two and he was pronounced dead at 6.53pm.
A police investigation found that one of the axle stands under the car was lying on its side, while a postmortem determined he had died from ‘crush asphyxiation’.
The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Tributes posted at the time of the tragedy described Mr Burton as a ‘beloved son’, ‘cherished partner’ and ‘devoted father’, adding he would be ‘greatly missed by all his family and many friends’.
He was ‘passionate’ about football and had played for Neath Town, Aberavon Greenstars and more recently, Cilfrew Rovers.
A fundraising appeal, organised by local sports clubs that Mr Burton was involved with, raised more than £3,000 for his grieving family.
Organisers said: ‘Dan was an amazing person, he would light up every room he entered and he will be sorely missed by so many.
‘He was a down-to-earth person, a great friend, a great father and will be a tremendous loss to everyone that knew him.’
