Homeless man sleeping in bin dies after rubbish truck crushed his legs severing arteries – The Sun

A HOMELESS man, who was sleeping in a bin, died after being tipped into a rubbish truck, crushing his legs and severing his arteries.

Russell Lane’s legs were severely crushed after he was trapped in the lorry in the Rochester High Street, Kent, in January 2018.

Doctors wanted to amputate but the 47-year-old refused and begged for a second opinion at a hospital closer to home in Southampton, an inquest heard.

Mr Lane died in hospital about a month later when an artery in his left leg became infected.

The inquest at Archbishop’s Place, Maidstone, heard he suffered severe injuries to his legs.

Graham Bailey, one of the bin men who tipped the bin into the waste lorry, told the court he and his colleagues at the waste firm Veolia were trained to ensure no one was sleeping in the bins they were tipping.

He said on Wednesday: “I hit the sides about three or four times; there were no signs of movement.

“I took the bin over the cobbles, lifted it an inch or so off the ground, lifted the lid and looked inside, all I could see was carpets and cardboard.”

TIPPED OVER

Mr Bailey pressed the emergency stop button and Paul Link, the driver, shut off the operations as soon as they realised Mr Lane had been tipped.

The homeless man was airlifted to hospital and underwent surgery to save the arteries in his left leg.

Mr Mohamed Mohamed, a consultant vascular surgeon at Medway Maritime, said while giving evidence he was concerned about Mr Lane’s leg after his operation because of the poor circulation.

Mr Lane underwent more surgery before it was discovered he was tampering with his own bandages and clips that were holding the wounds together.

Five days later, the surgeon found Mr Lane’s wound had become infected with pus and he underwent another surgery.

Mr Lane was told he would need to have his left leg amputated, but pleaded for a second opinion.

Mr Mohamed said Mr Lane understood the decision he was making to not have his leg amputated.

He said: “He said that God said to him he would not lose his leg – he was adamant that he would not let us take his leg.

“We were boxed into a corner a little bit because he had (mental) capacity. We had to respect his decision.”

'AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE'

The psychiatrist who assessed Mr Lane said even though he may have suffered from hyperactive delirium and episodes of agitation, he did have mental capacity.

The cause of death was hypovolemic shock which was caused by an infected, ruptured artery.

Mr Lane’s family did not attend the inquest, but evidence was heard that he had “always been in and out of crime”.

It was said he was making progress to stop his addiction to Class A drugs and he told his brother he had been travelling to research his family history.

In determining if his death was an accident DS Alistar Warton said: “There’s no evidence that Russell Lane was assaulted at the time of entering the bin or before – I believe Mr Lane went to the bin of his own accord”.

Mr Lane’s former partner Nicola Gerard said he had graduated from college with a qualification in health and social care a few months before his death.

The 45-year-old said: “Russell did not have a bad bone in his body – he was a beautiful soul.

“He was turning his life around, starting afresh and just wanted to help others.”

Concluding, coroner Katrina Hepburn said that she could not determine the death to be accidental.

She said: “He was accidentally tipped from the bin into the lorry, but I don’t find that he accidentally went into the bin.

“I find that misadventure is more suitable to this case. He wanted to spend the night in the bin. He had no where to sleep. I find that he voluntarily went into the bin to sleep.

“Death was an unintended consequence.”

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