A man died after a ride-on lawnmower rolled on top of him near a pond in North Stainley, a jury has ruled.

The body of 23-year-old Kamil Grygieniec was found trapped under a ride-on lawnmower, which was submerged in a pond near Watermill Lane in the village near Ripon, on October 8, 2021.

On the third and final day of Mr Grygieniec’s inquest held at Thirsk Racecourse, a jury today (November 13) ruled he died as a result of blunt and sharp-force trauma to the head after the lawnmower rolled on top of him and he came into contact with the blades.  

His cause of death was attributed to head injuries.

A grounds maintenance worker for MHS Countryside Management Ltd, Mr Grygieniec had been using the lawnmower to cut the grass around the pond area of the village before his death.

It was his last day working for the landscaping company before he was due to start a new job.

The Kubota G23 lawnmower Mr Grygieniec was operating in the lead up to his death was legally required to be fitted with a rollover protective system (ROPS), but it did not have one.

Frances Ellis, of the Health and Safety Executive, inspected the lawnmower after the fatal incident and said she saw “no mechanical reason” why the ROPS had not been attached to it.

Ms Ellis told the court on Tuesday (November 11) she believed the lawnmower rolled over and Mr Grygieniec rolled with it, his head then coming into contact with the blades. She could not say how many times it would've rolled or where. 

However, Ms Ellis conceded there would have been a gap in the grass had the lawnmower rolled over, which there was not.

MHS managing director Steven Houston said he “did not authorise” the removal of the ROPS and did not know who removed it. 

He also did not believe the lawnmower rolled over or overturned. 

The fateful day

Born in Poland but raised in Northallerton from a young age, Mr Grygieniec moved back in with his parents in the summer of 2020 after finishing university in Carlisle.

It was then he got a job at MHS.

Mr Grygieniec’s mother, Ava, saw her son on the morning of his death – the last time she would ever see him – and said he was his “normal, happy self”.

In a statement, she described her son as “easy-going and very popular”. She said he enjoyed gaming and speaking to friends, and was very fit and healthy thanks to his love of exercise.

“Kamil had a very bright future ahead of him… his friends told me they felt like they had lost a brother. He was an amazing young man”, Ms Grygieniec’s statement added.

Team leader Matthew Sarries worked alongside Mr Grygieniec at the North Stainley site on October 8.

Mr Grygieniec received “in-house training” during his time at MHS, according to works manager Robert Dungey, after annual training sessions with an external provider stopped in 2019.

Mr Dungey said Mr Grygieniec was a competent user of the lawnmower and he was happy for him to work unsupervised.

The court heard Mr Dungey briefed Mr Sarries and Mr Grygieniec that morning and told them they would spend the day cutting the grass in the village as part of a long-standing contract between the company and local parish council.

Both Mr Sarries and Mr Dungey’s statements claimed Mr Dungey insisted the ride-on lawnmower should not be used to cut the grass around the pond due to the steep bank, and said they were warned to be careful as the ground was slippery with dew.

Mr Sarries said he reiterated the instructions to Mr Grygieniec at the site and no concerns were raised.

Two North Stainley residents saw Mr Grygieniec cutting the grass near the pond – one of whom recalled thinking it was “risky” – and the lawnmower was later found upright in the pond. 

Emergency services were called to the scene at around 3.10pm.

The lawnmower was tipped on its side and Mr Grygrieniec’s body was recovered from the water. He was certified dead at 4.45pm.

Company instructions

Mr Houston’s statement said he would never have allowed his employees to use a ride-on lawnmower to cut the grass near the pond – and would have stopped anyone who did so – but added it was not his responsibility to brief and instruct employees.

The court heard Mr Dungey “always reiterated any site risks” to people before they started a job and insisted he told people never to use a ride-on lawnmower near the North Stainley pond.

However, other ex-MHS employees told the court they were never given strict guidance on cutting the North Stainley pond area, and were instead told to “cut to where they felt comfortable”.

A general risk assessment was provided to MHS in 2020, which said ride-on lawnmowers should not be used on slopes above 15 degrees. 

However, Ms Ellis told the court the Kubota G23 owner's manual said the lawnmower should not be used on slopes exceeding 11 degrees, which some parts of the pond bank did. 

A post-mortem examination revealed Mr Grygieniec suffered significant head injuries, which were likely sustained when his head came into contact with the lawnmower’s blades.

He would have been knocked unconscious immediately and died shortly after, a Home Office pathologist ruled, and no traces of blood or alcohol were found in his system.

Mr Grygieniec’s death was ruled an accident.