A HEREFORD man known in the city for running his TV aerial business died after a lathe fell onto him in his garage, an inquest heard.

Patrick “Paddy” King, aged 60, of Paddy King TV Aerials, was working at his Ledbury Road home shortly before the New Year when the tragic accident happened.

His wife Jean said that she heard him cry out and, when she went into the workshop, saw the machine lying across his back.

“I knew that it was heavy and couldn’t move it because it weighed about three quarters of a tonne. I went to him looking for a pulse,” she told the inquest.

“He was unconscious and probably dead. I thought that he might have tripped over it, but it looked like he was just getting it into position. I suppose we will never know.”

The inquest heard that Mr King enjoyed working on his lathe and milling machine and wanted to build a steam engine.

However, it was his TV and satellite aerial business that most locals remember him for.

From the age of five, he started helping his father, also called Paddy, putting together aerials and temporarily took over the family business when he was 21.

After briefly working for British Telecom, he took over the aerial business permanently and continued to trade across Herefordshire until his death.

His familiar van led his funeral cortege, but the firm has now closed after existing for 55 years.

The inquest heard that Mr King had not been drinking prior to his death and the garage was well lit.

There were also no suspicious circumstances or third party involvement.

Deputy coroner Mark Bricknell said that Mr King died of mechanical asphyxia as a result of crushing to the chest and recorded a verdict of accidental death.