Worker, 30, died days after falling from roof in Hove

Ernie Taylor, 30, was told in a safety briefing to stay in a “safe working area” while laying asphalt on a wall.

However, the owner of the roofing business he worked for said he “can’t recall telling” Mr Taylor to stay off the roof from which he fell to his death.

Gavin Damario said: “I’m very safety conscious. Ernie’s instruction was to stay with Dad [Paul Damario, Mr Damario’s father] at all times.

“He was told to stay in the safe working area.”

Mr Taylor, of Lodsworth Close in Whitehawk, died after falling through a lightwell, a shaft that runs from the roof and through Essex House in St Aubyns Gardens in Hove.

When asked by Coroner Karen Henderson whether he had specifically told Mr Taylor to stay off the roof, Mr Damario said: “I told [Paul Damario] and Sean [Damario, who also worked on the job] but I don’t remember saying that specifically to Ernie.”

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A jury at an inquest into his death, held at Leonardo Hotel in Brighton, also heard how Mr Taylor received a text from Gavin Damario asking him to photograph the work.

Dr Henderson said there was “certainly a belief from the family that you wanted him to go on the roof to take photographs”, but Mr Damario denied this was the meaning of the text.

Mr Taylor, a father of two, fell five storeys from the roof of the building on September 17, 2020, and was airlifted to hospital with traumatic injuries.

He died on his birthday three days later after being placed in a medically induced coma. 

Essex House, where Mr Taylor fell to his death

Paul Damario, a labourer who worked with Mr Taylor, said: “If I had seen him on the roof I would have asked him to get down.”

The jury heard that Mr Taylor had worked for Damario Asphalt Roofing, a Brighton company, on a freelance basis on several occasions.

Paul Damario said Mr Taylor was "energetic, very lively and always worked hard".

The inquest into his death continues.