Tree tragedy 'an accident' (From Oxford Mail)

Tree tragedy 'an accident'

9:11am Wednesday 11th October 2006 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

A family devastated after their daughter was killed by a falling tree remain adamant a council is to blame, despite an inquest's verdict it was an accident.

A diseased horse chestnut in Gloucester Street, Oxford, crashed on to the parked car in which 22-year-old Angela Regoczy was sitting during a violent storm in 2002.

The student, of Blandford Avenue, Oxford, was killed instantly.

Yesterday, a jury at Oxford Coroner's Court returned a verdict of misadventure.

But her family - including sisters Zoe, Emily and mother Denise who survived the tragedy - said they still blamed the council for not felling the tree.

The inquest was told the council had known since 1999 that the tree was diseased and was a potential public hazard. It was due to be removed more than a year before Miss Regoczy was killed.

The council has already paid out a 'sizable sum' to the family in an out-of-court settlement for shock and injury caused, the family lawyer Jeremy Irwin-Singer revealed yesterday.

Speaking after the hearing, he said: "The family feel they want someone to be brought to account but no-one has been held responsible.

"They do blame the city council for the death of their daughter.

"A sizable amount of money was paid a couple of years ago after the city council admitted liability.

"The misadventure verdict is perhaps not the most expected verdict.

"It has been a difficult time and the inquest has taken four years but now the inquest is out of the way they can feel some closure."

Council tree surgeons identified the horse chestnut as diseased in 1999 and recommended it should be felled within two years, former city area parks manager Andrew Daffrun said in a statement.

The tree was checked seven times between 1999 and 2002 but the council was unable to present evidence of findings to the inquest because of computer problems.

Forestry Commission expert David Rose had earlier told the inquest his inspection revealed almost half of the circumference of the trunk had rotted away.

The council had no equipment to study the inside of the trunk and based decisions on external observations, the jury was told.

City director of strategic physical environment, Sharon Cosgrove, told the inquest that since the death, the council had installed a new computer system and bought hi-tech ultrasound equipment.

Outside court she said: "The verdict shows accidents can and do happen when the weather is most violent but none of that takes away the fact that this is a tragic accident with terribly sad consequences for the family.

"I can only confirm that the civil matter the out-of-court payment has been settled, which is a separate matter from what happened today."

The two-day inquest was told a severe weather warning was in place and gusts of more than 60mph were battering Oxford when the tree blew down.

Deputy coroner Dr Richard Whittington said the falling of the tree was 'inevitable' but that it had been precipitated by the high winds.

The jury delivered a unanimous verdict of death by misadventure.