Mum of young Daventry bin man who fell under reversing lorry says life 'will never be the same'

A mum has paid tribute to her 22-year-old son who died during his shift as a bin man when he tripped and fell under a reversing lorry.

Kane Beard died in on the morning of April 8, 2016, while working with a four-man crew on a bin route in Daventry town centre.

Tragically, Kane was guiding the bin lorry as it reversed at the junction of Langdon Close when he accidentally tripped and fell under its wheels. He died at the scene.

In statement read out by prosecutor Mr Timothy Green, Kane's mother Jane Nixon said: "It's been over four years since I lost my son in this tragic incident and there's not a day goes by where I don't think about him. How much I wish Kane could have been with us all, how life could have been different if Kane was still here with us all.

"Since the day you passed away my life has not been the same and I don't think it ever will be. There's always an emptiness in me and I can't express in words how I feel."

"It will have been five years in April. But to me it feels like only yesterday when I heard of my loss.

"Even today I can smell my son all around me. On the day the police came to take my statement, I went upstairs and found two bags belonging to Kane. In one bag was his football and work top and trousers and in the other fresh clothes and a hat. I took out the hat and I could still smell Kane in it. I cannot believe even after four years I can still my son's smell in his clothes."

In court yesterday, a judge heard how if Enterprise had not been lax on its risk assessments then a route could have been created for the team that meant the lorry would never have had to reverse at all.