Gardener, 35, Fatally Electrocuted While Pruning Hedge

A young father and landscaper was killed in a freak accident while trimming a hedge — and now his widow is preparing to take on one of Britain’s biggest energy firms in court.

Blair Campbell, a 35-year-old gardener from Mobberley, England, was electrocuted in October 2022 when his hedge trimmer sliced through a live wire hidden beneath thick ivy. The wire, connected to a local electricity substation, had reportedly been concealed by overgrown plants that also covered nearby warning signs.

Campbell, a New Zealand native who ran his own small business, Blue Kiwi Gardens and Maintenance, had been working on a routine pruning job when tragedy struck. Witnesses said he collapsed immediately after cutting into the hidden wire. He was airlifted to the hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Two years later, his widow, Tina Liu Campbell, says she’s still waiting for answers — and an apology.

“Scottish Power hasn’t contacted us once with an apology or explanation,” she told reporters. “We waited two years for the inquest, and now they’re just silent. It’s been agony for me and my children.”

Tina, who is raising the couple’s two young children alone, says her lawyers have filed notice to sue SP Energy Networks, a subsidiary of Scottish Power, which operated the substation.

“The inquest found that their lack of maintenance more than likely contributed to Blair’s death,” she added. “Now, they have 28 days to respond before we take this to court.”

At a three-day hearing at Cheshire Coroner’s Court, jurors heard that residents had made repeated complaints about the overgrown ivy before Campbell’s death — but the company allegedly failed to act.

Evidence presented showed that warning signs were completely obscured and that maintenance crews had not cleared the area despite prior inspections. The coroner concluded that SP Energy Networks “more than likely contributed” to the fatal accident through “lack of adequate maintenance.”

Since the death, SP Energy Networks has reportedly revised its safety protocols and introduced new inspection requirements around vegetation near substations.

However, Tina says the changes come far too late. “They waited until after Blair died to fix it,” she said. “He was just doing his job — and it cost him his life.”

Friends describe Blair as a devoted husband and father who had “brought Kiwi warmth wherever he went.” He moved from New Zealand to the UK to marry Tina and build a life for their young family.

“Blair loved working outdoors — it was his passion,” said a family friend. “To lose him like this, because of something so preventable, is unbearable.”

As the family’s lawsuit moves forward, Tina says she’s determined to hold the company accountable — not only for justice but to ensure no other family endures the same fate.

“This was no accident,” she said quietly. “It was negligence. And someone has to answer for it.”