In what was a particularly unlucky yet very Spinal Tap moment in rock’s history of fatal encounters, two men have recently gone to trial as a result of the death of a much loved musician’s unfortunate encounter with a farming accident.
Mike Edwards, 62, was killed when a hay bale rapidly rolled down a grass field, through a wire fence and thin hedge into the path of his van as he drove along a busy road in the English countryside.
Edwards is the former cellist with the 1970s rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), who had mountains of success in the 1970s with their progressive, synth rock style.
The two men charged with Edwards’ death are a farmer and an agricultural contractor, accused in the case that went on trial last week, each charged with two health and safety offenses, which they both strongly deny.
The Daily Mail has reported the details of the court proceedings, with trial judge Paul Darlow telling the jury: “The deceased person driving the van was someone who was, certainly to some of us of a certain generation, quite a well known musician.”
Prosecutor Rupert Lowe later followed up: “The case arises out of a fatal accident which took place two years ago in September 2010.”
“It was 3rd September just before lunchtime when a man called Mike Edwards was driving along the A381 near Halwell in Devon when a large round bale of hay weighing half a tonne burst through a hedge near where he was driving and crashed on to the roof of his car,” says Lowe.
The cellist had little chance of survival, with the prosecutor announcing his final, fateful moments: “He was crushed and killed in the impact and was declared dead at the scene. It was a most dreadful farming accident. It could have been any member of the public but he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”It was a most dreadful farming accident. It could have been any member of the public but he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“This is a totally different sort of case. This was a farming accident. But it was one which was preventable, easily preventable” Lowe said. “The two men in the dock are charged with offenses over the way they carried out their work.”
Lowe also issued a warning to negligent business owners, saying anyone running a business should not put members of the public at risk of injury or death as a result of them carrying out their work (seems like common sense really).
Bale manufacturers say “employers should take suitable measures to eliminate this risk” of bales rolling or tipping over because, Mr Lowe said: “Once a bale rolls down a hill there is nothing to stop it. It is a risk you cannot afford to take.”
Both defendants deny failing to discharge their duty and a second count of contravening a Health and Safety regulation as the trial continues.
The last few months have seen some tragic, yet unlucky deaths in the music world, with Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker having suffered an unfortunate death at the hands of a motorcycle accident during America’s Halloween festivities; and more recently, the death of a Linkin Park fan after scaffolding collapsed outside the Green Point stadium where the rock band where scheduled to perform earlier this month in Capetown, South Africa.
