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Wembley upsets family of deceased carpenter
03.10.07
The family of a carpenter crushed to death while helping to building Wembley Stadium say they have been frozen out of plans for a memorial.
Patrick O'Sullivan died in 2004 when a crane collided with a platform which fell 100ft on to workers below. The 54-year-old bled to death and his colleague was left disabled.
His family have been fighting for a plaque to be erected at the stadium, and said Wembley had agreed.
His son John said: "We came out of the meeting having compromised pretty much everything but one thing everyone agreed was that we should have full input into what the plaque looked like and its size. We weren't being unreasonable wanting something a foot and a half wide.
I sent pictures of what I would like but kept receiving back plans for something much smaller, with about eight inches for text and mounted 10 feet high so that no one could see."
Mr O'Sullivan snr, who lived in Ealing, was looking forward to retiring to his native Ireland with Mary, his wife of 35 years. His son said: "We still haven't had an inquest. There were about 30 cranes at Wembley. They had been colliding and dropping loads."
A spokesman for Wembley denied it had ignored the family's wishes. "The plaque will be positioned 10ft above ground to avoid vandalism," he said.
He added that Wembley had invited members of the family to England's forthcoming match with Estonia.
