Son seeks justice over his mother’s brutal cruise | Travel News

A person whose mom was killed when a reversing truck crushed her says no one has been held liable for her death.

Janet Purkess, 87, was aboard a Caribbean cruise when tragedy struck shortly after she left the Saga Sapphire in 2020 during an unplanned stop in Bridgetown, Barbados, for refueling. Janet was standing on the quayside when a reversing 10-wheeled truck, being utilized within the refueling operation, struck and fatally crushed her.

During an inquest in April 2023, which was postponed awaiting the conclusion of the lorry driver’s court docket proceedings in Barbados, her son, Chris Purkess, 67, described his mother’s death to the coroner as a “perfect storm of incompetence.”

The costs in opposition to the driving force had been subsequently dropped in Barbados, main to a different inquest being organized.

At the reconvened inquest, carried out at Portsmouth Coroner’s Court on July 29 and 30, 2026, the coroner decided that Janet perished in a highway visitors collision involving a heavy items vehicle with “none of the usual safety features” that was “reversing at speed in a congested roadway.”

Chris, a former jail governor from Worthing, Sussex, expressed: “The whole situation is deeply frustrating.”

“I feel incredibly angry and incredibly frustrated that these people have been able to get away with this whole thing.”

“Nobody is being held accountable for my mother’s death – it is crazy.”

“It is deeply frustrating for my family and me.”

Chris characterised his mom because the household’s “matriarch” who devoted her ultimate years to caring for his father.

“She and my dad had been married for 66 years before he passed away,” Chris defined.

“From that point on, she was grief-stricken.

“After dad died, she needed some time to get over that, and a 12 months or so later she was pondering ‘Let’s do one thing for me.”

Prior to his passing in September 2018, Stanley and Janet had dreamed of taking a Caribbean cruise, with Janet particularly eager to see Trinidad.

She reserved a 33-day voyage aboard the Saga Sapphire, departing Southampton on January 5, 2020.

Chris, speaking with Sell Us Your Story, recalled: “We set up a WhatsApp group so mum may inform us how she was getting on.

“She was enjoying the cruise for sure.”

The vessel was certain for Trinidad, Janet’s desired vacation spot, however diverted to Barbados for refueling functions.

During this unscheduled port call, passengers had been permitted to depart the ship for excursions.

However, whereas Janet crossed the quayside, she was fatally struck by a reversing 10-wheeled truck that had simply accomplished refueling operations.

“My older brother got the call to tell me what had happened to mum, and then he told me,” Chris recounted.

“You can’t possibly imagine that something like that will happen.”

“I remember more the emotion than the words. I was in complete shock and disbelief.”

“Mum had no underlying medical issues; she still had a lot of years left in her. Old or not, it is sad she didn’t reach the end of her life like she should have done.”

An inquest inspecting Janet’s death convened at Portsmouth Coroners Court on April 12, 2023, the place coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp knowledgeable attendees the proceedings could be postponed pending the truck driver’s court docket look in Barbados.

However, on the Barbados listening to, a decide threw out the case in opposition to the truck driver, and a recent inquest date was scheduled for June 29 and June 30, 2026.

Portsmouth Coroner’s Court was knowledgeable that the driving force, Anthony Walcott, lacked correct licensing and was reversing “negligently” in a vehicle with out a rear-view mirror or reversing alarm.

The coroner decided Janet’s trigger of death was “severe crush injury” ensuing from a highway visitors incident involving a heavy items vehicle with “none of the usual safety features” that was “reversing at speed in a congested roadway.”

Chris expressed his disappointment, stating: “I would have liked for the inquest to go into more detail about the failings that led up to and after my mum’s death,” and “Nobody has been held accountable for what happened, and it is unlikely that anyone will be held accountable for my mother’s death.”

He emphasised: “Someone died, for goodness sake; this should have gone in front of a judge and jury.”

A Saga spokesperson responded: “Our deepest sympathies remain with the Purkess family over their terrible loss.”

The company added: “Since this tragic incident we have worked closely with the Coroner and have remained fully supportive of the inquest.”

They clarified: “While Saga does not run the ports where our ships visit, we always work closely with port authorities around the world on ensuring the highest standards of health and safety.”

The spokesperson famous: “Since this incident, the port in Bridgetown has put in place several improvements and changes.”

Concluding, they acknowledged: “We share the frustrations that this matter has taken so long to come to conclusion, and we hope the outcome brings some degree of closure to the Purkess family.”