Kevin Holding
(Picture: .)A father-of-three crushed to death by a pop-up urinal in the West End has been pictured for the first time.
Kevin Holding, 60, from Beckenham in south east London, was killed by the public toilet outside the Palace Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue on January 27.
An inquest heard Thursday that the grandfather was crushed as the toilet he was repairing “fell quite suddenly”.
The cause of death was compression asphyxia. Mr Holding was identified by his Oyster card.
Following his death, his daughter posted an image of Mr Holding hoisting his granddaughter on his shoulders.
She added the caption: “She will know you as the best grangrand [sic] in the whole world.”
A remote inquest hearing at West London Coroners Court heard that although paramedics arrived at 1.05pm there was a delay in the arrival of a vehicle to help lift the urinal, until about 3.15pm.
It heard the father-of-three was employed by Hi-tech Washroom Solutions Limited and lived with his partner in Beckenham.
Dozens of firefighters spent more than two-and-a-half hours trying to free him, eventually using a winch to prise the urinal open.
The incident happened in Cambridge Circus, which connects Charing Cross Road with Shaftesbury Avenue, in the heart of London’s hugely popular theatre district.
The urinal was located outside the Palace Theatre, currently home to award-winning play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
