\u201cI was sorting some clothes out under an ottoman bed so I had my head under and there was a bang, I felt something hit me and thought [the lid] had fallen down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen as I looked up, there was what I thought was smoke everywhere. I thought a bomb had gone off. June had disappeared totally.\u201d<\/p>\n
A neighbour brought a ladder and Sam raced to their rescue, but it was too late for his great aunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought a plane had come down,\u201d he said. \u201cThe roof came completely down on one side. I was screaming to try to get to them both, but the stairs were just rubble.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.ca.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2023\/07\/June-Harvey-WI-crop-221x300.jpg\")
June Harvey<\/p><\/div>\n
Jacqueline was trapped in the dust after the incident and could hear neighbours trying to help her.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were shouting \u2018get out, get out\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t even figure out what had happened, June was gone, I couldn\u2019t see anything, she was just gone. It was unbelievable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we had a long wait. I had such bad panic attacks, I couldn\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crane was being used on land owned by Swan, which was building 65 units of social housing at Watts Grove, Bow, at the time of the incident. Construction subsidiary Swan Commercial Services was leading the project. Swan and its subsidiary were taken over by housing association Sanctuary in 2023.<\/p>\n
In July 2023, Jacqueline and Sam both launched claims<\/a> at the High Court.<\/p>\n PGCS Partnership, a subsidiary of Squibb Group that went into liquidation in July 2022, had been a consulting engineer on the job. Squibb itself was wound up by the High Court in December 2023 after being served a winding-up order by HMRC.<\/a><\/p>\n Even though the court case has been settled, the police and Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are still investigating.<\/p>\n Sam told CN<\/em> the settlement was \u201ca small piece of justice\u201d but with the criminal investigation approaching its fifth year, is not enough.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t have happened at all. There\u2019s no way, with how far we should have progressed, that a crane should fall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou walk around London and see how many cranes there are, it happens extremely rarely but it shouldn\u2019t have happened at all. Until that investigation is concluded, what is to say it won\u2019t happen again?\u201d<\/p>\n The pair have suffered mental health impacts as a result of their experience and Sam has been unable to return to the job he previously loved, as a chef, due to his PTSD and anxiety.<\/p>\n \u201cI still wake up with nightmares, any loud noises I still jump, I struggle with bad anxiety, struggle to sleep and have some anger issues, which I never had before, that I\u2019m trying to deal with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The tragedy could have been even worse had the crane fallen differently, Sam added, given there was a block of flats behind their former home.<\/p>\n He said there has been little contact from investigators and they are in the dark as to why the investigation is taking so long.<\/p>\n In speaking to CN<\/em>, the pair hope to prevent similar incidents taking place and want to raise awareness of the lack of support for people in their situation.<\/p>\n Lawyer Helen Clifford, who has represented the family, said: \u201cThe delays that Jacci and Sam have faced and continue to face are unacceptable. They are entirely innocent victims of a disaster that should never have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n She alleged that a lack of police and HSE resources have contributed to the delay and criticised cuts imposed by central government after 2010.<\/p>\n Clifford also called for the restoration of the tower crane register, which was introduced in 2010 after the 2006 Battersea crane collapse and made it a requirement to notify the HSE if a tower crane was in use on site. She added that it should be extended to all types of crane.<\/p>\n The register was abolished under the Coalition Government\u2019s drive to reduce \u201cred tape\u201d in 2013.<\/p>\n