Window Cleaners Inquest, Far East Delegation & Permits Revoked

Window cleaner died accidentally, inquest hears: A window cleaner who fell from a bay window roof while on his weekly round died accidentally, a jury has ruled. Bill Wilson, from Hucknall, was found on a patio with head injuries after he fell from the roof at a house in Ilkeston in July last year. Derby and South Derbyshire Coroners' Court heard how a neighbour raised the alarm after hearing the 58-year-old calling for help. Paramedics took the father-of-four to the Queen's Medical Centre where he later died while undergoing surgery.
Giving evidence, Sharon Caulfield said she returned to her home, in Audley Close, from Nottingham at around 2.30pm on the day of the incident, in July last year. She said: "At about 4.15pm I went outside to fix a gate. Through my fence I can see into the back garden of my next door neighbours. "I heard someone crying out so ran next door. Mr Wilson was lying on the ground, he was shouting 'help me'. "He was lying on his side with his arms stretched out and his legs bent." Mrs Caulfield went to a neighbour's house to ask them to dial 999 and saw Mark Huckerby, a detective sergeant with West Midlands police who was visiting friends in Ilkeston. He told the court how at first he thought Mr Wilson might have been assaulted. He said: "Mr Wilson was lying between the garden of the house and the garden wall. "My initial concern was that he had obviously suffered a head trauma."
Mr Wilson, of Bolingey Way, Hucknall, was taken to the Queens Medical Centre where doctors tried to operate on him, but he died later the same day. A post-mortem examination revealed he had suffered multiple injuries from the fall. Mr Wilson lived with his wife Terry and had four children – Ben 22, Ruth, 28, Vikki, 34, and 36-year-old Amanda. He had been a fitter working on the surface at Linby Colliery. When the colliery closed in 1991, he decided to go into window cleaning
Speaking at his inquest, Mrs Wilson said on the day of the accident she was at home and noticed her husband was late home from work. She said: "I was looking at the clock saying he should be home by now. "I got a call and went to the Queen's Medical Centre but as far as I knew all he had done was banged his head. "When I got there they told me they were going to have to undertake emergency surgery."
Edward Walker, an inspector with the Health and Safety Executive told the court it had carried out a full investigation into Mr Wilson's death and discovered a tile clip that was bent on the roof of the bay window. He said: "It is most likely this happened during the course of this accident."
Speaking at the time her husband died, Mrs Wilson said his window cleaning round was mainly concentrated in the Shipley View estate and he also had rounds in Eastwood, Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield. She said: "Bill was a lovely man who never had a bad word to say about anyone. "He loved his family, his DIY and he loved going walking."

A Delegation from the Far East has paid a flying visit to see the site of the multi-million pound China Gateway business park where construction work is due to start next year. The top exec's were taken for a tour of the isle by helicopter, piloted by Ken Wills, boss of Commercial Group Properties, the company behind the English side of the deal to bring Chinese firms to Thanet. The group, who arrived in Manston on Friday, included Lu Yuexing – vice governor of Pudong, a district of Shanghai that is home to many of the firms which may open factories in the new development. On Friday it was revealed that one in 10 jobs there will be filled by Chinese management, with the rest by a local workforce. Mr Wills said 1,000 people would be employed on the business park and some 2,000 other jobs, such as window cleaners, gardeners, building contractors and sign writers, would spring from it indirectly. Mr Brathwaite said: “Thanet and the China Gateway project has a big profile in China and we’re very, very close now to getting this project off the ground. We’ve obviously suffered a lot from the financial downturn, but funding is secured and it should begin by the first quarter of 2010.” Phase one, agreed by Thanet council subject to legal formalities, includes 21 warehouses, covering 138,000 square metres.

Door-to-door sellers have licenses revoked by Urbandale: The permits for five people selling a cleaner for Xtreme Chemical Company of Plano, Texas, were pulled after the Urbandale Police Department received a half-dozen complaints in two days. Some residents also accused those with the company of being involved in a string of recent burglaries in the city, although police said there is no evidence to that effect. "Some of these individuals were washing a window and then showing (residents) how clean the glass is. They thought it was suspicious," said Urbandale Police Sgt. Dave Disney. "There is no connection to any burglaries. There's nothing solid linking them to anything other than possible rude behavior." Though no crime had been committed by individuals from the company, Disney said the permits were revoked due to the number of complaints the city received. He said such a move is unusual since the company had valid permits and no crime is believed to have occurred. Typically, he said the city receives complaints of solicitors who do not have valid permits with the city.

A police report, which has since been withdrawn, was filed with the Urbandale Police Department on June 2. The report described an incident in which an Xtreme Chemical Company employee allegedly cursed and used racial epithets when asked by an Urbandale man to leave his property in the 3600 block of 150th Street. Police said no charges will be filed, but the incident led to rumors and speculation that the peddlers were involved in the burglaries. There were seven burglaries in a 30-day period that ended June 1, which is no more than usual, police said. "Folks were concerned about their property and neighborhood and by word of mouth it snowballed into a story that exaggerated the actual number of reported burglaries in the city and reported some facts that are incorrect," Disney said. "Two things got linked that were not connected and created panic that was not due."
Xtreme Chemical Company supervisor Dave O'Leary - who had his permit revoked - said there have been a total of seven complaints from Urbandale residents made to the company in two weeks. O'Leary said he was unaware of the June 2 incident and that the company does everything "by the book." All five employees had to pass criminal background checks to get the permits from the city. "As far as being rude, cursing and using racial slurs, that's not how we teach our people," said O'Leary, who has been selling products door-to-door in Urbandale for the past 10 years. The company sells a nontoxic, biodegradable all-purpose cleaner. "My understanding from Urbandale is there have been some burglaries going on and that raises residents' level of concern, but we are not thieves or people out trying to scam people," O'Leary said. "We are trying to make a living ... To think we're involved in burglaries is ludicrous."

Tragic Fall of Ilkeston Window Cleaner, Bill Wilson

A WINDOW cleaner died after falling from a roof on his weekly round. Bill Wilson was found on a patio with head injuries, after he fell just 10ft from a bay window at a house in Ilkeston. A neighbour raised the alarm after hearing the 58-year-old calling for help. Paramedics took him to Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre where he later died while undergoing surgery. An inquest has been opened but Mr Wilson's wife, Terry, says she fears she may never discover what caused her husband's fall. The 54-year-old said: "He had fallen four times before but it was nothing serious. He was careful and he could not work on certain days because of the weather.
"You can get into trouble by over-reaching and UPVC frames can be slippery. I think it was windy that day and that may have had something to do with it, but I don't think we will ever know. "Bill was a lovely man who never had a bad word to say about anyone. "He loved his family, his DIY and he loved going walking. "The pair of us often walked in the Peak District and his favourite place was Chatsworth. The accident happened last Tuesday as Mr Wilson, who had a weekly round in Ilkeston since 1991, was cleaning the windows of a house in Audley Close. He was discovered on the patio by Sharon Caulfield, who heard him calling for help. Mrs Caulfield, 45, said: "I went out into the garden and could hear this voice saying 'help me, help me'. "So I raced next door, where I could see a man lying on his side. "I called for a neighbour to call 999 and went round to see him. "He was drifting in and out of consciousness." Mrs Caulfield, who is a supervisor at St Thomas Catholic School, Ilkeston, put a towel beside his injured head and stayed with him until paramedics arrived. Doctors at the Queen's Medical Centre found he had a blood clot. He died during an operation. Mr Wilson, whose round was mainly concentrated in the Shipley View estate, was a popular figure among his customers for his reliability and diligence.
One customer, Margaret Fairlie, 82, of Manners Road, Ilkeston, said: "He was a lovely man. "He was a very good window cleaner and a pleasant fellow. "You knew that he would always be here when he said he would be, unless the weather was very bad. "We would chat about his family and his holidays. We often had a bit of banter." Neighbour Hazel Straw, 70, said: "He did a very good job and it is very sad to hear this." Mr Wilson lived with his wife in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, and had four children – Ben 21, Ruth, 27, Vikki, 34, and 36-year-old Ruth. He had been a fitter working on the surface at Linby Colliery, in Nottinghamshire. When the colliery closed, he decided to go into window cleaning because of his love of the outdoors. Ilkeston was his biggest window-cleaning round but he also had rounds in Eastwood, Hucknall and Sutton-in-Ashfield. Mr Wilson will be cremated after a private service. On Saturday, there will be a memorial service at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Beauvale Road, Hucknall, at 2pm. The Health and Safety Executive has begun an investigation into Mr Wilson's death.
HSE officials have confirmed that three people died and a further 374 people had been seriously injured in the East Midlands, between 2001 and 2005, as a result of falling from ladders.
An inquest has also opened.