By Josh Pennington,Ryan Fahey
Copyright manchestereveningnews
A man was tragically crushed to death after the bin he had climbed into was emptied into a lorry. Vitalij Maceljuch, 36, originally from Ukraine but a Czech national, climbed into the bin near a Wren store in Chester during the night and is believed to have fallen asleep. Despite the bin being checked, which included shaking it on its forks, it was emptied into the Biffa lorry. In May of last year, police were summoned to the Thorncliffe waste management site in Flintshire after his body was discovered moving along a conveyor belt. Initially, staff mistook it for a mannequin before realising the horrific reality, as heard by Ruthin Coroner’s Court. Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Assistant coroner David Lewis at Ruthin revealed that Mr Maceljuch, who had no fixed address, had a history of drug use in North Wales and Cheshire, with traces of cannabis and amphetamine found in his system, reports the Mirror . Home Office pathologist Dr Jonathan Medcalf stated: “It’s possible he was experiencing some of the effects of the substances at the time of his death.” There were severe injuries to the head and neck area. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) highlighted that there was a “danger of death” warning sign on the bin. The drugs consumed by Mr Maceljuch could cause drowsiness, and it’s likely he had been asleep in the bin. CCTV footage captured him entering the bin at 4am. The HSE concluded that neither the driver nor the two waste companies were to blame. The coroner recorded a conclusion of misadventure, stating that Mr Maceljuch died at the skip site at Alltami on 10 May last year. “It’s highly likely his death occurred some time before his arrival at that location,” commented Mr Lewis. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE “It seems to be a case of an act of misadventure in that Mr Maceljuch died as a result of actions which were intentional but had unintended consequences.” This follows a similar case involving RAF airman Corrie McKeague who disappeared in September 2016 at the age of 23. Corrie, originally from Dunfermline in Scotland, was serving at RAF Honington near Bury St Edmunds, where he was last seen. CCTV footage of Corrie moments before his disappearance led to the theory that he might have crawled into a recycling bin to sleep, before being crushed to death by a refuse lorry and taken to a landfill site 30 miles away.
