AN ex-soldier killed when he was hit by a bucket loader vehicle at the UPM papermill in Shotton was a “fantastic dad”, an inquest has heard.

Austin Thomas, 29, died after suffering “significant injuries” to his head and torso in a warehouse used to collect recycled newspaper on Monday, February 6, 2017.

A jury on day one of an inquest expected to last five days heard Mr Thomas, of Gardener’s Row, Oakenholt, Flint, had been a soldier for eight years, serving in both Kosovo and Afghanistan, before returning home from Hampshire to live closer to his parents.

Mr Thomas was walking on the warehouse floor when he was hit by a bucket loader driven by colleague Darren Wright at around noon on February 6, the inquest at Abergele was told.

At an earlier pre-inquest hearing in Ruthin it was revealed that Mr Wright, who was arrested after the incident, would not be charged, but both UPM, which owns the mill and Downton Haulage, which is contracted to provide warehouse services at the mill, would be facing charges under the Health and Safety Act.

North Wales East and Central assistant coroner Joanne Lees read a statement from Mr Thomas’ mother, Sandy Thomas, in which she said her and her husband’s “lives had been changed for ever” following their son’s death.

“Austin was fiercely loyal and a fantastic dad to his boy of six years old,” said Mrs Thomas, who said her son’s time with the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards was “a hard time for the family as we worried about him”.

Mr Thomas had lived in Aldershot but returned home with his partner and son and had found work at the papermill where he drove one of the Volvo shovel loaders used to move huge piles of newspaper before it was readied for recycling.

The inquest was shown video footage of Mr Thomas walking in the warehouse before being run over by one of the shovel loaders which was fully loaded with newspaper.

In a statement paramedics who attended said an ambulance had arrived at the mill at 12.01pm, about eight minutes after receiving a call.

Mr Thomas was covered in rolls of paper with “significant injuries to his head and torso which were not compatible with life”.

A post-mortem examination by Dr Mohammed Aslam revealed the cause of death as crush injuries.

A statement from Andy Williams, a mill HGV driver, said: “I saw Austin walking but the next thing I saw the machine was behind him and I saw him go down and the machine bounce.

“I went over and saw Darren with his head in his hands saying ‘I’ve killed Austin’.”

Following the incident a swipe was carried out to test for drugs and alcohol in Mr Wright’s system which gave a negative reading. He was taken to Wrexham Police Station where a blood test came back positive for a small amount of cannabis but below the legal limit for driving.

In a statement Mr Wright admitted smoking cannabis over the weekend but he insisted he did not smoke drugs in work.

Mr Wright said a colleague had asked him why Mr Thomas was lying on the floor. “I knew exactly what had happened,” he added.

Asked if Mr Thomas had radioed that he was entering the warehouse floor by foot, as was procedure, Mr Wright replied: “no”.