THE family of a man who went missing eight years ago can finally “get closure” after an inquest found he died at work.
The inquest into the disappearance of New Zealander Lee Sheppard came to a close on Friday, February 25, as a nine-strong jury reached the verdict he died in an industrial accident at European Metal Recycling (EMR) in Willesden.
Over three weeks the jurors at North London Coroner’s Court heard how Mr Sheppard vanished on January 31, 2003, while working a night shift at the refrigerator recycling plant.
His wife, Juliet Sheppard last saw him when he left their home in Cricklewood that night.
The jury ruled Mr Sheppard died of “asphyxiation” inside either a conveyor or QZ, part of the plant’s machinery used to crush refrigerators during a recycling process.
Mr Sheppard’s family including Juliet, his four brothers and their mother Rose Sheppard had flown from New Zealand for the inquest.
Speaking after the jury’s verdict Juliet said: “After eight years I don’t know how I feel right now.”
However, she said although she was “in shock” she was “very pleased with the outcome” and said “it’s time for EMR to acknowledge what’s happened.”
Juliet said the inquest “showed up strongly that Lee was not trained properly” and had “no previous experience in that job”.
Juliet said this was a “big problem”, which she is “sure contributed to the accident.”
Just days before Mr Sheppard went missing the couple found out they were expecting their first child, Jaden who is now seven-years-old.
She said: “I always believed that Lee wouldn’t have just ran off from us all as a family and so I knew something must have happened but I just didn’t know what.”
Juliet said she believes “the truth has prevailed” and will tell Jaden “his dad did die at work”.
She added: “I think the hardest thing about it is that at least for me I have the memories of Lee but Jaden never got to meet his father.”
Talking about the future Juliet said she is getting married and is “looking forward to moving on” with her life.
Mr Sheppard’s brother, Brent Sheppard said he remembered coming to England eight years ago “trying to find out what happened to Lee”.
He said the family are “100 per cent happy” to finally have an answer.
Rose Sheppard said the family has “been in a time warp” and said she would wake up every morning asking “where are you, what happened”.
The family are planning a memorial service for Mr Sheppard in New Zealand and Rose said they can finally “get closure”.
A spokesperson for EMR said: “We acknowledge the findings of the jury and we will need time to reflect on this before making any further comment.
“In the meantime we offer our sincere sympathies to Mr Sheppard's family and friends.”
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