A FORMER soldier died accidentally while fixing the roof of a barn, an inquest has found.

Dean Henderson-Smith, 46, died after falling through a skylight at Great Park Farm near Besselsleigh in October 2012.

At his inquest on Monday a jury ruled that his death was an accident that happened as he fixed the barn’s roof.

Speaking after the inquest, his wife Susan Henderson-Smith said: “The verdict was just and fair. It was what we had expected it to be. This has concluded a very heartbreaking and unsettled period for all of us.

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“I think all concerned can look to the future now, remember him and begin our lives again. His sons have been through a very troubling time.

“He was a very likable man and very outgoing. He went fully into anything without much concern for his own safety.

“I would constantly tell him to be careful.”

The inquest before coroner Darren Salter heard that Mr Henderson-Smith, who lived in Long Wittenham, had been working for John Binning, the owner of the farm, for nearly a year as a maintenance worker.

On Thursday, October 18, he was working on the roof with Ben Baker, another maintenance worker, on replacing the plastic skylights on the large hanger at the farm.

While carrying a new package of these sheets of plastic across the roof, he fell nearly seven metres through one of the skylights.

Home Office pathologist Dr Ashley Fegan-Earl said he sustained multiple injuries which were “unsurvivable”.

Mr Binning, who was fined £67,500 in March after admitting breaching health and safety regulations over the incident, gave evidence at this week’s hearing.

He said: “In my opinion it was completely safe to walk up there. We discussed whether he should do it or whether we should engage a contractor. “The way we run the farm is the more people have a say in something the more sense comes out of it. We discuss all the jobs and they usually come out with a better answer than I do.

“He wanted to get on and get the job finished.”

Mr Binning added that Mr Henderson-Smith was due to finish working for him the next day after suffering from a hernia.

Mr Henderson-Smith was a former Sergeant-Major in the Royal Logistics Corp based at Dalton Barracks. During his 22-year military career he served in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

He had two step-sons, Jake and Luke.

The jury recorded a verdict of accidental death.

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