Lancashire: Boy, 10, crushed to death by quadbike after taking vehicle without parents knowing

Thomas Bull died in hospital after the bike tipped over and left him trapped underneath it on his family's farm, an inquest at Accrington Town Hall heard. He would regularly go around on the farm doing chores, but he knew he couldn't take the quadbike out on his own.

But after Thomas arrived back from school on June 7 this year, he took the quadbike out on the farm without his parents, Jo and Chris, knowing. The pair then became concerned when he didn't return back to the property, which was on the family's farm in Lancashire.

Chris said he could see something black in the corner of the field and realised it was the quadbike on its side. When he got to the scene, the quadbike was fully tipped over with Thomas, who was conscious and communicating at this point, trapped underneath it.

Emergency services were called and two helicopters from Yorkshire Air Ambulance arrived and took Thomas to Leeds General Infirmary in West Yorkshire. When he arrived at the hospital, doctors initially seemed optimistic, but the youngster's condition began to deteriorate over the following days.

Doctors said that he died on June 10 because of reperfusion, that is consistent with severe crush injuries. They also offered a medical cause of death of multiple-organ failure exacerbated by crush injuries. The Health and Safety Executive attended the farm and determined they were not pursuing any further investigation.

The inquest found Thomas was not wearing a helmet at the time but that he had no recorded head injuries. It also found the risk of the quadbike overturning was increased by his age and weight.

The risk of serious injury was increased when the quadbike overturned because of the weight of the vehicle and Thomas not being strong enough to lift it off. Coroner Richard Taylor recorded a conclusion of accidental death.