Surprise evidence over Ballarat deaths presented to Coroner

A double fatality on a Ballarat worksite in March 2018 will be further investigated by the Coroner following a surprising submission from ambulance workers.

Charlie Howkins, 34, and Jack Brownlee, 21, died in March 2018.

A Victorian Coroner has agreed to open a new investigation into the deaths of concreters Jack Brownlee, 21, and Charlie Howkins, 34, who lost their lives at a Ballarat worksite in 2018.

Coroner Leveasque Peterson said two Ambulance Victoria workers had made written submissions to her office, with at least one claiming that Mr Brownlee and Mr Howkins had not been in a trench at the time it collapsed.

Coroner Peterson said the Ambulance Victoria employee had not been available to speak to investigators during previous inquiries and a prosecution.

Mr Howkins died at the scene where he had been working on the Winterfield housing development in Delacombe, on March 21, 2018.

Colleagues spent 2.5 hours digging Mr Brownlee free with their hands, tools and an excavator, but he died in hospital the following day.

The men’s employer, Pipecon, pleaded guilty in court and was fined over their deaths.

Coroner Peterson said she would investigate the locations of the two men when the disaster struck.

“It is open to me to form a preliminary view on the basis of the evidence that Jack and Charlie were not in the trench at the time of the collapse,” she said.

She said that, despite urgings from the men’s next of kin, she would not go over old ground that previous investigations and a prosecution had covered.

Charlie Howkins, 34, and Jack Brownlee, 21, died when at a Ballarat worksite in March 2018.

Coroner Peterson said she would commission expert witnesses to give evidence on whether the use of an excavator in the rescue of the two men had been safe and whether it may have negatively impacted the pair they were trying to save.

“I indicated I would not traverse any of the issues that were previously the subject of an investigation by WorkSafe,” she said.

“And as such it was my view that the Coronial investigation and any inquest would be focused on issues relating to rescue and recovery including prevention opportunities.

“And I have not changed my views in respect of that question.”

Coroner Peterson said she would not investigate the whereabouts of specialist equipment, or training in using it for rescuing people stuck in trenches, as she did not believe it was relevant to the case.

Representatives were present at court from the men’s families, the CFA, Pipecon, the Chief Commissioner of Police, the Fire fighters Union, the Victorian WorkCover Authority, Fire and Rescue Victoria, the Emergency Service Telecommunications Authority and Ambulance Victoria.

Coroner Peterson said a large courtroom would be needed to accommodate all of the parties and the matter would not be able to be heard again until late November.

She ordered that experts be commissioned to give evidence in the meantime and their reports given to the court and relevant parties.