A “human cannonball” stuntman was killed when a safety net intended to break his fall collapsed, an inquest has heard.
Matthew Cranch, 24, sustained multiple injuries after he plunged to the ground during Scott May’s Daredevil Stunt Show, jurors were told. He had been fired from a cannon mounted on a lorry in front of spectators at the Kent county showground in Detling, Kent, on 25 April 2011.
Outlining the case to jurors at the start of a three-day inquest, Mid-Kent and Medway coroner Patricia Harding said: “Matthew Cranch himself was performing a stunt called the human cannonball. There is a cannon mounted on the back of a lorry and it is fired into a safety net nearby. In this particular case, as Matthew was fired out of the cannon, the net collapsed, causing Mr Cranch to land on the ground,” she said.
“He suffered multiple injuries and, tragically, he died at Maidstone hospital that day. He had been attended to by St John Ambulance and other ambulance teams.”
At the hearing were Cranch’s parents, Michael and Pauline, and his sister, Eleanor, as well as Scott May, and representatives from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Maidstone borough council.
Harding said an inquiry launched by the police following the death of Cranch, who was originally from the Isle of Man but living in Cornwall at the time, was later handed to Maidstone council, which has “health and safety functions”. Kent police announced in December 2012 that no criminal prosecution would be brought over the incident.
At the time of his death, friends and acquaintances described Cranch as a “lovable character” and a “true gent who had time for anyone and everyone”. The inquest at the Archbishop’s Palace, Maidstone, continues.
