This is the last picture of a teacher who was crushed to death in a bin lorry.
Within hours of this CCTV image being taken, Scott Williams, a 35-year-old New Zealander, bedded down in a large wheelie bin in central Brighton after a night’s drinking.
Police concluded he was killed by machinery when the rubbish was emptied into the back of a dustcart - but exactly where and when he got inside the bin remain a mystery.
Last night detectives released this picture as part of a fresh appeal for information about the hours leading up to Mr Williams’ death.
At the opening of an inquest into his death, toxicology results showed that Mr Williams was almost three times the drink-drive limit.
And a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector revealed that dustmen emptying rubbish onto lorries had found four people in wheelie bins in Brighton and another two in Shoreham. None of them was injured.
Mr Williams’ family have accepted the police’s conclusion that there was no foul play involved in his death and are calling for tighter safety laws to stop the tragedy being repeated.
His brother Tony, 37, told The Argus: “It was a tragic accident and we have lost a loved member of our family.
“We’d hate for this to happen to another family.
“I want the health and safety regulations around these bins, residential and commercial, to be tightened up so it never happens again.”
His mother, Marion, flew to Britain after his death but has now left and is expected to arrive back in New Zealand today (Thursday).
An HSE investigation is under way to look at what action is needed to stop similar deaths in future.
Warning stickers, similar to those used on Brighton and Hove City Council bins, and tighter rules around locks and the checks made by rubbish collectors are understood to be among the options which may be explored.
Mr Williams was a well-liked maths and PE teacher working in London.
He travelled to Brighton on Saturday July 11 with a friend, Robert Pillinger, and was due to stay at Mr Pillinger’s mother’s house in Hangleton, Hove.
After Mr Williams visited his brother, Tony, in Brighton, the friends met up again for a night out.
They went to the Black Lion in Black Lion Street.
Mr Pillinger went home at about 1am but Mr Williams did not leave until the bar closed at 2.30am.
He was last seen on CCTV saying goodbye to a woman at a taxi rank outside the Thistle Brighton Hotel in King’s Road at 3.02am, as seen on our front page.
Police have another still showing a man of a similar description walking up Prince Albert Street at about 3.30am.
There are no more sightings until he was found crushed to death early on Monday July 13 at a tip in North Quay, Newhaven.
He was emptied with the rubbish from a PHS Wastetech dustcart which had collected waste from across Brighton the previous day, starting its round at about 6.25am.
The preliminary results of his post-mortem showed he had died from crush injuries to his chest.
Toxicology results showed Mr Williams had 220mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - nearly three times the 80mg drink-drive limit.
Police do not believe he had been robbed and said there were no signs of an assault.
Detective Chief Inspector Graham Pratt of Sussex Police told yesterday’s hearing Mr WIlliams still had his wallet, mobile phone and credit cards on him.
His team are still studying some CCTV footage and are hoping to retrieve information from his mobile phone, which was damaged when it was found.
He said: “There is no evidence to suggest there was a third party involved in Scott’s death.”
At the opening of the inquest into Mr Williams’s death yesterday a fresh appeal was issued for anyone who saw him in central Brighton early on Sunday July 12 and has not already spoken to police to come forward.
John Hooper, deputy coroner for Brighton and Hove, said the full inquest in March next year will be heard by a jury.
His body is being released in seven days’ time and is expected to be flown to his native New Zealand to be buried.
Mr Hooper appealed for anyone who saw someone who may have been Mr Williams near a large wheelie bin between about 3.02am and 6.25am on Sunday July 12, to come forward.
Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 0845 6070999 or the coroner’s office on 01273 665504.
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