The mother of a 23-year-old construction worker killed on a building site has called for bereaved families to be given more support.

Judith Allen’s son, Steven, died in March 2007 when his head became trapped in a scissor-grab machine while he was working on a waste recycling plant in Midland Road, Bradford.

His three-day inquest took place last week and the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Skipton-based construction company JN Bentley, which employed Steven, hired a barrister to represent it at the inquest, but Judith, who works at a bakery, was given no legal aid to hire a solicitor of her own.

Under the current system, families are not entitled to legal aid at inquests unless under exceptional circumstances where Article 2 of the European Convention of Human Rights, “the right to life”, is involved.

For example, a prison suicide or severe failings by the state to protect life may be given legal aid.

Judith — of Highfield Road, Keighley — was struggling to fork out for costs totalling more than £12,000 for a QC to represent her at her son’s inquest, until Mick Antoniw, from Cardiff-based Thompsons Solicitors, said he would do it for free. Judith, who has two other sons and a daughter, said: “The bill was going to run into thousands of pounds, at first I thought I was going to try and pay it somehow.

“I said to the kids ‘this is money for your future’ but they said they didn’t care because they wanted to know what had happened to their brother so I should use it, but I was finding it hard to justify that amount of money.

“It wasn’t until a couple of weeks beforehand that Mick said he wouldn’t charge. But I am still looking at thousands of pounds for legal advice I sought beforehand and his expenses.

“If I hadn’t had anybody in there representing me I can’t imagine what it would have been like.”

Judith added that she thinks there should be more support in general for families who have lost a loved one at work.

She said: “I have had to go looking for everything, at every stage, I have had to find it. There was no one coming to me and saying ‘this is what you have got to do,’ and I am sure there should be something in place to direct people.”

It wasn’t until Judith contacted the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) in London that she met with Families Against Corporate Killing (FACK), which held a rally protesting about a high number of deaths in the workplace, particularly in construction, before Steven’s inquest last week.

Charity Keighley Work Safe also gave moral support to Judith and Steven’s family.

The Health and Safety Executive is currently deciding whether to bring a prosecution against Bentley’s based on the information that transpired in the inquest.

Bentley’s directors have issued a statement saying the company was committed to the health and safety of all its employees.

The statement said: “Our deepest and most sincere sympathy and thoughts have been, and always will be, with Steven’s family, friends and colleagues.

“JN Bentley is committed to the health and safety of all its employees and has taken positive steps to implement the lessons learned from this tragic accident.”