The partner of a man who died after falling from a roof has accused his employer of telling him to go on to the roof.
In a statement read to an inquest into Ernie Taylor's death, his girlfriend Charlene Tilley shared messages from his boss which were sent after his death.
Ms Tilley claims that Gavin Damario, owner of Damario Asphalt Roofing, told Mr Taylor to go on to the roof of Essex House in St Aubyn Gardens in Hove to take photographs of work being done.
Mr Damario denies that he told Mr Taylor, 30, to go on the roof, adding that the roofer “left the safe working area”.
Texts sent to Mr Damario from Ms Tilley and read out in court said: “Every day I wake up and I see him and hear his voice but he is not here because of you.”
Ms Tilley, who has a young child with Mr Taylor, also told Mr Damario: “I don’t have the words to explain that her dad died.”
Mr Damario texted her back, saying: “Every single job we ever did was safe and professional."
A statement by Ms Tilley which was read to the jury also said that she had contacted Mr Taylor shortly before his death, asking him how the roofers went to the toilet.
She said that Mr Taylor had told her there was bucket on the roof of the building which was used to urinate into.
The inquest jury earlier heard that the Health and Safety Executive had found there was “inadequate edge protection” around the lightwell which Mr Taylor fell into.
Rebekah Dunn, who provided evidence for the HSE, said that if the roofers were climbing on to the roof rather than working from the scaffolding then there was a “duty to make safe” the lightwell.
The inquest had previously heard from Sussex Police Inspector Amber Evans, who said that Mr Taylor had been “very close” to the lightwell with his back to the hole while taking pictures of the work.
Although Gavin Damario accepted that Mr Taylor ventured on to the roof to take pictures he said that “he was told to stay in the safe working area” of scaffolding erected on the side of Essex House.
Mr Taylor fell five storeys from the roof of the building on September 17, 2020, and was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton with traumatic injuries. He died on his 30th birthday three days later after being placed in a medically induced coma.
Paul Damario, who also worked with Mr Taylor as an asphalter, said that he was “energetic, very lively and always worked hard".
The inquest into Mr Taylor’s death, being held at the Leonardo Hotel in Stroudley Road near Brighton railway station, continues.
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