A teenager was crushed to death by a forklift truck while working at a farm less than a month after starting his new job, an inquest heard.

Zachariah Richardson was 18 when he died in October 2020, while working at Elm Farm in Shipdham, near Dereham.

Mr Richardson, of Boston, Lincolnshire, was employed as a yardman by Lincolnshire Firewood and DD Dodd from October 6 and died at the Norfolk farm on October 24.

An inquest into his death resumed on Tuesday with a jury due to hear evidence for the remainder of the week.

It heard that Mr Richardson had been working on the site near Dereham that day and had been left to work unsupervised when manager Evan Jenkins briefly left to collect a car.

When he returned, Mr Richardson was found sandwiched between the forklift truck he had been using and a wall. Paramedics were called, but he died at the scene.

The inquest heard Mr Richardson had received days of training in the week prior to the incident - on October 17 and 18.

Scott Ekins, who gave him the training, said it was “clear to see" he had been on a forklift before.

He said the teenager “seemed very level-headed”, “asked a lot of questions” and “took notes” and “on the day he was the most fluent out of the three (candidates)”.

Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC, for Mr Richardson's family, said the forklift truck was fitted with a seat sensor which should have stopped it from moving when nobody was in the driver’s seat.

Ms Gumbel told Mr Ekins: “The seat sensor didn’t work as it must have moved when he (Zach) wasn’t in it as you know he was crushed between the wall and the truck.

“It must follow that the sensor wasn’t working.”

Mr Richardson was one of 10 siblings, all of who had been trained in forklift driving by their father, Kevin Richardson.

Mr Richardson Snr, who was at the hearing, said outside court his son had a “heart of gold”.

The 56-year-old, who lost an arm in a work accident 19 years ago, said his son “was always ready to help me”.

“I’ve trained up all my six sons and Zach was the most talented,” said Mr Richardson Snr.

“He was all set to make something great of his life. I never had to ask but he was always ready to help me around the house.

“Family was everything to him and we feel like we failed him by encouraging him to take the job that killed him.

“He didn’t even get to spend his first pay packet.

“I miss him like you’d never believe.”

The inquest continues.