A "traumatic brain injury" was the cause of death for a Kenilworth man who passed away after an incident at a local factory, the coroner has ruled.

An inquest into the death of Richard Hopkins in March revealed the father-of-two was working under a vehicle at Dennis Eagle's Heathcote base when the incident occurred.

The 39-year-old was taken to hospital with head injuries after the incident at Heathcote Industrial Estate on Wednesday 14 February 2024 where he passed away.

The inquest heard there was a fault on the vehicle Mr Hopkins was working, but concluded it was an "accident".

"On the 14 February 2024, whilst undertaking his role as a PDI Inspector under a vehicle, a trailing arm fractured resulting in the pressurised air bag extending causing injury to the head," a report from the coroner said.

It continued saying the death was an "accident owing to the concurrence of two main factors; a defective trailing arm and Mr Hopkins being situated under the rear axle at the time of the malfunction".

Following the inquest, the coroner will prepare a report to try and prevent similar incidents happening in the future.

Mr Hopkins had only worked at the company since the previous November.

advertisement

A member of his family told Nub News: "As a family, we are devastated by Rich's death. 

"It has taken two long years to get answers, and while that process has been incredibly difficult, we are relieved that a Prevention of Future Deaths report has now been issued. 

"We hope this will help protect other families in the future. 

"Rich's two boys, Tommy and Charlie, are heartbroken, as are all of us, and we continue to navigate the loss of someone so deeply loved. 

"Although the formal proceedings are now coming to an end, for our family the impact will last forever. We miss Rich every day."

Following the inquest, a statement from Dennis Eagle to Nub News said: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague, Richard Hopkins, and our thoughts remain with his family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time.

"We note the coroner's decision to issue a Prevention of Future Deaths report to the wider industry. 

"We welcome efforts to help strengthen safety standards across the sector and will play an active role in supporting that work.

advertisement

"The safety and wellbeing of our employees, our customers and the wider public continues to be our highest priority. 

"We remain committed to continually reviewing and strengthening our safety measures to ensure that everyone who works with us or interacts with our products goes home safe, every day.

"We will continue to support Richard's family and all those affected. We will also continue to review our manufacturing processes and associated safety systems to ensure we maintain the highest possible standards of safety across our operations."

In 2024 the HSE - the national regulator for workplace health and safety - told Nub News it was aware of the investigation and said it is assisting the police with enquiries.

HSE did not respond to our latest request for comment.

Dennis Eagle moved its engineering team to a new testing and development engineering facility at its Warwickshire HQ in 2023.