Pub landlord jailed after boy electrocuted in beer garden

An east London landlord's been jailed after a seven year old boy was killed in his beer garden.

Harvey Tyrrell died in 2018 after touching an outside light that turned out to be live with electricity.

He had been playing with his friend in the beer garden of the King Harold in Romford when this happened.

After sitting on the outside light, he touched a railing which caused an electric shock that proved fatal.

The landlord David Bearman was jailed for 9 years after pleading guilty to gross negligence and abstracting electricity.

An investigation found he had done a lot of the electrical work at the property in his twelve years as owner, despite having no qualifications to do so.

He also friends and family to do electrical work at the property.

His brother in law Colin Naylor, who claims to have more than 50 years experience as an electrician admitted that in April 2018, he carried out work at the premises and had viewed one of the electrical distribution boards, which he said gave him cause to ‘raise his eyebrows’, but having spoken to Bearman, he took the decision ‘not to get involved in that side of things'.

The inspection conducted following Harvey’s tragic death found the entire distribution board serving the garden lights was not earthed

Naylor was sentenced to 12 months for failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act

Detective Sergeant Andy McAlister said: “Bearman’s negligence and failure to ensure his venue was kept properly up to date with electrical checks has cost a young boy his life, something which could have easily been avoided. The sentencing today reflects the impact that his actions have had.

"Bearman had been given several warnings in relation to the state of the electrics within the premises and ignored these warnings, undoubtedly leading to poor Harvey's death.

"I hope the sentencing begins to bring the family some peace, they have remained dignified throughout this long and undoubtedly heart-breaking court process. My thoughts and best wishes are with them and no words will describe how sorry we are for their loss.

“As a qualified electrician, Naylor had not only the ability, but also the responsibility, to ensure that the work he completed didn’t pose a risk to those visiting the venue.

“The decisions that both men have made cost the life of an innocent child and devastated a family.”

Speaking on behalf of Harvey’s family, his parents (Lewis Tyrrell and Danielle Jones) said:

"In September 2018 our lives changed forever, we experienced what no parent should ever go through. We lost our beautiful seven-year-old boy Harvey in a tragic accident due to two men’s disregard for safety in a public place. After waiting an extremely long two-and-a-half years, we now have some form of justice for our Harvey chops.

"No sentence will ever be enough as we have to live without Harvey, with heartache and grief for the rest of our days. What we would give to have our cheeky, larger than life, handsome, funny, little boy back, being able to hear that infectious laugh of his again.

"Sadly our son’s death has highlighted that the enforcement of regulations around health and safety within public houses is flawed and needs to be addressed, we do not want another family experiencing the pain we are having to face. We will continue to do what we can for our beautiful baby boy and keep his memory alive forever.”