The father of a runner who died when he was electrocuted by a faulty power cable has said not enough is being done to prevent future fatalities.
John Oates, known as Harry, was jogging along a public footpath in Cumbria when he came into contact with a low-hanging live cable.
An inquest found the 29-year-old had died as a result of a “rare and complex” set of circumstances. The coroner said Electricity North West (ENWL), which manages the line, was not responsible for his death but called on the Energy Networks Association (ENA) to work with its members to reduce future risk.
ENWL said it would continue to work with the ENA on “learnings from this immensely sad accident”.
Harry, who was born in Kendal and worked in Bristol, had been visiting his parents when he went out for a run in October 2023.
When he failed to return, his dad Malcolm went to look for him and found his body on the public footpath in Lupton, near Kirkby Lonsdale.
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Harry died instantly when he came into contact with the live cable
“I was just numb, it was almost as if it wasn’t real,” Malcolm said.
“It looked almost as if it was a tailor’s dummy lying there, it didn’t really register with me.”
Harry died instantly when he came into contact with the low-hanging power cable, the inquest found.
Malcolm said he believed ENWL had not done enough to prevent tragedies.
He said: “They’ve shown no empathy towards us as a family, they’ve just produced document after document in trying to justify their maintenance records and abiding by the procedures in place.”
He claimed the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which had been involved in investigations, had been “neglectful”.
“Their mission statement it is to keep the general public, not only people at work, in a safe place in their environment,” he said.
A spokesman for the HSE said “no material breach of law” was identified in its investigation.
Malcolm said HSE lawyers had asked Cumbria’s coroner Kirsty Gomersal not to include the regulator in the prevention of future deaths report which was issued following proceedings.
The HSE said the coroner had concluded the death had been a “a tragic incident caused by a rare and complex sequence of events”.
“We extend our sincere condolences to the Oates family,” a spokesman said.
The ENA previously said it was “carefully considering” the coroner’s report and it would work with its members to develop and action plan.
