Manhole where schoolboy Shea Ryan died should have been checked, inquiry told

Asked about whether a risk assessment had been done on MH22 following the takeover, Mr Laurence replied: “There wasn’t a risk assessment for the manhole because we didn’t build it.”

Pressed on whether there should have been one, he replied: “In hindsight, yes, there should have been.”

A risk assessment of 6 July relating to GBA did flag up a risk of injury to the public because of manholes, but Mr Laurence said this did not relate to MH22, which he said did not form part of RJ McLeod’s works.

Mr Laurence said to his knowledge nobody had checked it was bolted down, and no formal risk assessment had been carried out or documented anywhere.

“If we took it over from another site we should have checked that it was complete, more formally than we did – or I did, anyway,” he said.

Mr Laurence said the last time he had seen MH22 before the accident the lid was properly in place, and that “from everybody I spoke to the lid was on, that’s all I know”.

The civil engineer added that no RJ McLeod staff had any reason to open it, and he was not aware of anyone doing so.

However, he agreed with procurator fiscal depute Nicola Gillespie it “must have been taken off for Shea to fall in, or go in and slip”.