My seven-year-old son was electrocuted to death a pub – £10 could have saved his life
A MUM has revealed her heartbreak after her seven-year-old son was electrocuted to death at a pub – in a tragedy that could have been avoided with just £10.
Harvey Tyrell was just seven-years-old when he was electrocuted while holding a metal railing at the King Harold pub in Harold Wood, Essex, in September 2018.
David Bearman, the pub’s negligent owner, was handed a nine-year manslaughter sentence over the horror in April 2021.
He admitted contributing to Harvey’s death by stealing electricity through an unmetered supply.
Meanwhile, Colin Naylor, the electrician who installed the lights, was cleared of manslaughter, but jailed for a year after being found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety Act.
Now, his mother Danielle Jones, is calling for tighter safety regulations to be carried out and prevent the “avoidable” loss of another life.
She told The Sun Online: “My son was electrocuted and we had to face a six week trial.
“The pub was completely unsafe there were 32 defects 12 of which were life threatening, it was diabolical, the state of the place.
“The owner got nine years. Obviously I saw the state of the place and it made me question what other public houses are like that.
“It made me look into the regulations and safety checks that are in place at the moment and why did this happen to our little boy.
“It was so easily avoidable to why didn’t the council do checks on the place? It got me fired up so I spoke to electrical experts who was in court with us and he said they were meant to have checks every five years.
“But although every pub is supposed to have these checks, there’s no one monitoring if they’re being carried out.
“I put a petition together where I’m campaigning for change.”
The hard-working mum-of-three has already garnered 51,704 signatures for the petition on change.org – with the goal to reach 75,000.
NEED FOR CHANGE
Danielle explained in 2021 their local MP took it to the House of Commons and had a 10 minute bill, but it never reached the second stage.
“I’m pushing for this change even more because another family reached out to me who said their two-year-old little boy was electrocuted in a pub in Berkshire,” Danielle added.
Thankfully the little tot was not killed, but he did suffer heart palpitations after the terrifying shock.
Danielle said: “It was faulty outdoor lighting, so it just makes me think this is still happening, and what is it going to take for the government to realise there needs to be something within the licencing that means these checks are carried out.
“You need to have your food hygiene checks done, and on show, you have to have gas safety checks carried out.
“Why can’t there be one for electrics? No one really wants to help me because I think it will open a massive can of worms and cause a lot of disturbance for a lot of pubs.
“The HSC are using Harvey’s story for guidance but they really need to use it for change. The regulations need to be changed.”
The mum is determined each council should be responsible for the assessment of each pub in their borough.
“They used to have enforcement officers that went around back in the day,” she continued.
“Our local council had gone to the King’s Herald and actually said your electrics aren’t safe. But they never followed up on it because of staffing and funding.
“It could have saved our little boy. A £10 earth bar is what could have saved Harvey.
“If someone had gone in their they would have seen straight away that it wan’t safe, the plug sockets were burning through the walls, things were sparking.
“From the outside it looked lovely but what was going on behind closed doors was something else.”
‘NINE YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH’
Danielle is determined to keep spreading awareness that pub’s are not safe.
She pointed out that during lockdown, many venues were extending their garden spaces as well as installing outdoor heating and lighting.
“It petrifies me to think about, you can’t see electricity, that’s what makes it so important,” the mum added.
“I don’t want to move mountains, maybe I’m being naive, but I think it’s quite a simple thing to ask for.
“You’ve got cowboys like David Bearman, he was stealing electricity and gas, I’m sure he’s not the only one that tries to cut corners because let’s face it we’re living in a world now where everything’s so expensive.
“Nine years is not enough, the type of men they were, the electrician had no remorse in court whatsoever.
“He stood there like ‘it’s not my problem’.
“An electrical expert said it was the worst pub he’d ever been to.
“If I shout and make enough noise hopefully one day someone will listen to me.”