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Federica Bedendo,North East and Cumbriaand Mike Zeller,BBC Radio Cumbria
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Harry Oates died at the age of 29 when he was electrocuted by a low-hanging power cable
The father of a runner who died when he was electrocuted by a faulty power cable has said not enough is being done to prevent future fatalities.
John Oates, known as Harry, was jogging along a public footpath in Cumbria when he came into contact with a low-hanging live cable.
An inquest found the 29-year-old had died as a result of a "rare and complex" set of circumstances. The coroner said Electricity North West (ENWL), which manages the line, was not responsible for his death but called on the Energy Networks Association (ENA) to work with its members to reduce future risk.
ENWL said it would continue to work with the ENA on "learnings from this immensely sad accident".
Harry, who was born in Kendal and worked in Bristol, had been visiting his parents when he went out for a run in October 2023.
When he failed to return, his dad Malcolm went to look for him and found his body on the public footpath in Lupton, near Kirkby Lonsdale.
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Harry died instantly when he came into contact with the live cable
"I was just numb, it was almost as if it wasn't real," Malcolm said.
"It looked almost as if it was a tailor's dummy lying there, it didn't really register with me."
Harry died instantly when he came into contact with the low-hanging power cable, the inquest found.
Malcolm said he believed ENWL had not done enough to prevent tragedies.
He said: "They've shown no empathy towards us as a family, they've just produced document after document in trying to justify their maintenance records and abiding by the procedures in place."
He claimed the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which had been involved in investigations, had been "neglectful".
"Their mission statement it is to keep the general public, not only people at work, in a safe place in their environment," he said.
A spokesman for the HSE said "no material breach of law" was identified in its investigation.
Malcolm said HSE lawyers had asked Cumbria's coroner Kirsty Gomersal not to include the regulator in the prevention of future deaths report which was issued following proceedings.
The HSE said the coroner had concluded the death had been a "a tragic incident caused by a rare and complex sequence of events".
"We extend our sincere condolences to the Oates family," a spokesman said.
The ENA previously said it was "carefully considering" the coroner's report and it would work with its members to develop and action plan.
Malcolm said another man had died in similar circumstances in Essex in 2012.
Dr James Kew was hit by a fallen electricity cable while running on a public footpath across a field in Newport.
The fault was reported to UK Power Networks earlier that day, but the company did not cut the power.
"Electricity North West and the wider industry have, in our opinion, really just hidden behind process and [been] going by the book," Malcolm said.
The family's legal team is considering further action.
Following Harry's inquest in December, the prevention of future deaths report said a fault had allowed the line to remain live when the cable fell from its usual height, but this had not been reported to the operator.
The issue had been caused by voids in the cement around the insulators.
As part of ENWL's investigation it tested 260 insulators across its network and found 73% contained voids.
The inquest heard the company had since brought in changes, stopped using that type of insulator and was rolling out a programme to replace them at about 8,000 locations.
Where there is a fault similar to the one that had occurred leading up to the 29-year-old's death, ENWL now carries out patrols of lines within 48 hours.
The company said its sympathy remained with Harry's family.
A spokesman said: "This was a tragic incident which both the coroner and HSE noted involved a rare and complex sequence of events that were unforeseeable."
