Human cannonball death was an accident

Captured on video by spectators, this is the moment when human cannonball Matt Cranch fell to his death in April 2011, after his safety net collapsed before he'd landed in it.

The 24 year old, from Newquay, had only started with the stunt show a few weeks earlier.

The inquest heard from the stunt show's chief mechanic who admitted he had no qualifications in mechanics but had learned through years of experience. He said the equipment was pressure washed, oiled and inspected regularly between shows and that health and safety was always given top priority but that the safety net mechanism couldn't properly be inspected.

Asked how he would detect any worn parts in the net release, a sealed unit, the boss of the stunt show, Mr Scott May, said it had worked flawlessly for the previous 1,000 times but that if he'd had any suspicion that any part needed replacing, he would have done that.

Police decided in 2012 not to prosecute anyone but a health and safety executive investigation is still underway.

After two days of evidence, the inquest jury today returned a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Cranch's family say they will never accept or get over his death. They have released the following statement:

You can watch David Johns' report from the court here: