Gardener 'traumatised' after finding colleague crushed by a quadbike

A MAN crushed to death by a quadbike was found unresponsive and “blue” in a field by a colleague who had gone searching for him after he failed to take his break.

- HOLLY MORGAN

Businessman Nicholas Prest and his wife Anthea, pictured at a previous hearing

Former Ministry of Defence chief Nicholas Prest, 71, and his wife Anthea, 70, deny being to blame for the death of a groundsman at their luxury, 15-acre £2.5m estate in Llandogo, Monmouthshire, in 2020.

Paul Marsden was found dead in a field by colleague Nicholas James Miles. An inquest previously heard how a postmortem examination revealed he had died of asphyxia of the chest.

Mr Miles, who was also a self-employed gardener for the Prest family at the time, told Newport Crown Court yesterday that when he and Mr Marsden were both scheduled to work on the same day, they would usually take their breaks together, and on the morning of his death, Mr Marsden had brought in cakes for everyone to share on their tea break.

Mr Marsden did not turn up for his break. Instead, he was three fields away, his body was trapped under a quadbike.

Mr Miles, who worked for the Prest family since 2016 at both their manor and at Glyn Farm, said that he was “getting more and more worried as time went on” for Mr Marsden’s welfare.

Mr Miles said the last time he saw Mr Marsden alive was when he drove off on a quadbike to spray weed killer around the fields of Pilstone House.

Mr Miles said: “When I arrived he was by the garage putting weed killer into the quadbike sprayer. The sprayer was already on there when I had got there. He seemed fine, like his normal self. He brought some cakes in for break time to share.